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BIRD-LIFE 

Edition in Colors 






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Ernest 5 etonjhompson* 



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Plate I. Page 156. 

BARN SWALLOW. 

CLIFF SWALLOW. TREE SWALLOW 

BANK SWALLOW. 



BIRD-LIFE 

A GUIDE TO THE STUDY 
OF OUR COMMON BIRDS 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



ASSISTANT CURATOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND 

ORNITHOLOGY IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY; 

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION | AUTHOR OF 

HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

ERNEST SETON THOMPSON 



AUTHOR OF ART ANATOMY OF ANIMALS, 
THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA, ETC. 



WITH SEVENTY-FIVE FULL-PAGE 
PLATES IN COLORS 




NEW YORK 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
ii 




CfclVCtt 



X f- 



Copyright, 1897, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 



/ 
/ 



TO 

Dr. J. A. ALLEN 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 

AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION 

FROM ONE WHO 

FOR NINE YEARS HAS WORKED .AT HIS SIDE. 



PREFACE TO THE EDITION IN COLORS. 



Without question, the simplest and most certain way 
in which to learn to know our birds is by examination 
of the birds themselves. Not every one, however, has 
access to an ornithological collection, and failing this, the 
best substitute for the bird is a colored plate which will 
accurately represent every shade and tint of its plumage. 
The widespread demand for a work containing illustra- 
tions of this nature is undoubted, but publishers have pre- 
viously hesitated to expend the large sum necessary to 
produce satisfactorily colored plates, or have employed 
the cheap color processes with results' far from successful. 

The high praise which has been accorded the illustra- 
tions in the uncolored edition of Bird-Life is an assur- 
ance that bird lovers will therefore doubly welcome a 
work in which our birds are truthfully portrayed, not 
only in natural attitudes, but in natural colors as well. 
Photographic bromide copies of the original drawings for 
Bird-Life have been carefully colored by an expert col- 
orist under the author's supervision, and are here repro- 
duced by a lithographic process which insures absolute 
accuracy. 

F. M. C. 
American Museum of Natural History, 
New York city, October 1, 1897. 



PKEFACE. 



How unusual it is to meet any one who can correctly 
name a dozen of our birds ! One may live in the country 
and still know only two or three of the one hundred and 
fifty or more kinds of birds that may be found during 
the year. Nevertheless, these gay, restless creatures, 
both by voice and action, constantly invite our attention, 
and they are far too interesting and beautiful to be 
ignored. No one to whom Nature appeals should be 
without some knowledge of these, the most attractive of 
her animate forms. 

The scientific results to be derived from the study of 
birds are fully realized by the naturalist. But there are 
other results equally important. I would have every one 
know of them : results that add to our pleasure in field 
and wood, and give fresh interest to walks that before 
were eventless ; that quicken both ear and eye, making 
us hear and see where before we were deaf and blind. 
Then, to our surprise, we shall discover that the forests 
and pastures we have known all our lives are tenanted 
by countless feathered inhabitants whose companionship 
will prove a source of endless enjoyment. 

I would enter a special plea for the study of birds in 
the schools ; , for the more general introduction of 
ornithology in natural -history courses. Frogs and cray- 
fish serve an excellent purpose, but we may not en- 
counter either of them after leaving the laboratory ; 
whereas birds not only offer excellent opportunities for 



x PREFACE. 

study, but are always about us, and even a slight famil- 
iarity with them will be of value long after school days 
are over. 

Popular interest must precede the desire for purely 
technical knowledge. The following pages are not ad- 
dressed to past masters in ornithology, but to those who 
desire a general knowledge of bird-life and some ac- 
quaintance with our commoner birds. The opening 
chapters of this book briefly define the bird, its place in 
Nature and its relation to man, and outline the leading 
facts in its life-history. The concluding chapters pre- 
sent the portraits, names, and addresses of upward of one 
hundred familiar birds of eastern North America, with 
such information concerning their comings and goings 
as will lead, I trust, to their being found at home. 

After this introduction the student may be left on 
the threshold, with the assurance that his entrance to the 
innermost circles of bird-life depends entirely on his own 
patience and enthusiasm. 

Frank M. Chapman. 

American Museum of Natural History, 
New York city, January, 1897. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE 

I. — The bird, its place in Nature and relation to man . 1 
Place in Nature — Relation to man. 

II. — The living bird . .14 

Factors of evolution — The wing, its form and uses — 
The tail, its form and uses — The foot, its form and uses 
— The bill, its form and uses. 

III. — Colors of birds 35 

Color and age — Color and season — The molt — Color and 
food — Color and climate — Color and haunt and habit — 
Color and sex. 

IV. — The migration of birds 48 

Extent of migration — Times of migration — Manner of 
migration — Origin of migration. 

v V. — The voice of birds . . .62 

Song — Call-notes. 

VI. — The nesting season 64 

Time of nesting — Mating — The nest — The eggs — The 
young. 

VII. — How to identify birds . . . . . .71 

A bird's biography. 

Field key to our common Land Birds . . . .75 
xi 



xii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Water Birds 84 

Diving Birds — Long-winged Swimmers — Tube-nosed Swim- 
mers — Lamellirostral Swimmers — Herons, Storks, Ibises, etc. 
— Cranes, Rails, etc. — Shore Birds. 

The Land Birds . . . 100 

Gallinaceous Birds — Pigeons and Doves — Birds of Prey — 
Cuckoos, Kingfishers, etc. — Woodpeckers — Goatsuckers, 
Swifts, and Hummingbirds — Perching Birds. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Full-page Plates. 

FACING 
PLATE PAGE 

I. — Barn, Cliff, Bank, and Tree Swallows Frontispiece y 

II.— Pied-billed Grebe 8" 

III.— Loon 6 

IV.— Herring Gull ; Petrels 10- 

V. — Wood Duck ; Pintails ; Mallards ; Green- winged 

Teal ; Blue-winged Teal ; Canada Geese . . 14 
VI. — Little Green Heron ; Black-crowned Night Heron ; 

Great Blue Heron 18 

VII. — American Bittern ; Sora 22^- 

VIII. — American Coot; Clapper Rail . . . . . 26v 

IX.— Wilson's Snipe . . . - 30 

X. — Common Tern ; Semipalmated Sandpiper ; Semipal- 

mated Plover 34 

XI. — Spotted Sandpiper ; Killdeer 38 

XII.— Ruffed Grouse 42 

XIII.— Mourning Dove 46 

XIV.— Red-shouldered Hawk 50 

XV.— Marsh Hawk . . . . / . . . 52 

XVI. — Sparrow Hawk 54 

XVII.— Sharp-shinned Hawk 56 

XVIII. — American Osprey . . ...... 58 

XIX.— Short-eared Owl* 60 

XX.— Screech Owl 62 

XXL— Barred Owl 64^ 

XXII.— Yellow-billed Cuckoo 66- 

XXIII.— Belted Kingfisher 68 

XXIV.— Downy Woodpecker . " 70 

XXV.— Red-headed Woodpecker . . . . . . 84* 

XXVI.— Flicker . . , 86 

XXVIL— Nighthawk ; Whip-poor-will . . . . . . 88- 

xiii 



xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FACING 

PLATE PAGE 

XXVIIL— Chimney Swift 90 

XXIX. — Ruby-throated Hummingbird 92k 

XXX.— Kingbird . 9* 

XXXI.— Crested Flycatcher 96 

XXXII.— Phoebe 98 

XXX1IL— Wood Pewee . . 10(K 

XXXIV.— Horned Lark . . 102^ 

XXXV.— Baltimore Oriole 104V 

XXXVI.— Orchard Oriole 106v 

XXXVII.— Purple Grackle 108 v 

XXXVIII.— Bobolink 110/ 

XXXIX.— Meadowlark . . . . . . . H2v 

XL.— Cowbird 114 

XLL— Song Sparrow 116 - 

XLIL— Swamp Sparrow . 118/ 

XLIII.— Field Sparrow 120 . 

XLI V.— Vesper Sparrow 122. 

XLV. — Chipping Sparrow 124v 

XLVL— White-throated Sparrow 126/ 

XLVIL— Fox Sparrow . 128/ 

XLVIII.— Junco 130 

XLIX.— Tree Sparrow . . . . . . . .132' 

L.— Redpoll ; Si owflake 134' 

LI. — American C ossbill ; Pine Grosbeak .... 136/ 

LII. — American Gc 1 1 finch 138 v 

LIII.— Purple Finch 140 

LIV. — Rose-breasted Grosbeak 142/ 

LV.— Towhee 144 

LVL— Dickcissel 146, 

LVII.— Cedar Waxwing 148 

LVIIL— Northern Shrike 150/ 

LIX. — Red-eyed Vireo ; Yellow-throated Vireo . . . 152? v 

LX— Black and White Warbler. . . . . . 154/ 

LXL— Myrtle Warbler ; Black-throated Green Warbler . 15.6\ 

LXII.— Redstart 158 

LXIII.— Oven-bird 160 

LXIV.— Maryland Yellow-throat 162 

LXV.— Yellow-breasted Chat 164 

LXVL— Mockingbird . . ... . . . 166 

LXVIL— Brown Thrasher 168 

LXVIII.— House Wren .170 

LXIX.— Long-billed Marsh Wren . . . . . .172 

LXX.— Brown Creeper ; Chickadee 174/ 



V 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xv 



PLATE PAGE 

LXXL— Red-breasted Nuthatch ; White-breasted Nuthatch 176^ 

LXXII. — Golden-crowned Kinglet ; Ruby-crowned Kinglet . 1781/ 

LXXIIL— Veery 180 

LXXIV.— Wood Thrush 182- 

LXXV.— Hermit Thrush 184 Y 



FIG 
1. 

2. 
3. 



9. 
10. 
11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 
18. 
19. 

20. 
21. 



Figures in the Text. 

PAGE 

Restoration of the Archaeopteryx, a toothed, reptilelike bird 

of the Jurassic period / . , 3 

End of speaiiike tongue of Pileated Woodpecker . . .14 
Tip of tail of (a) Downy Woodpecker, (&) Brown Creeper, to 
show the pointed shape in tails of creeping birds of different 

families 16 

Young Hoatzin, showing use of hooked fingers in climbing . 17 
Short, rounded wing and large foot of Little Black Rail, a ter- 
restrial bird 18 

Long, pointed wing and small foot of Tree Swallow, an aerial 

bird 18 

Frigate-bird 19 

Great Auk, showing relatively small wing 1 . . . .21 
Wing of Woodcock, showing three outer" attenuate feathers . 24 
Jacana, showing spurred wing and elor 'Med toes . . .24 
Tail-feathers of Motmot (Momotus subrufescens), showing newly 

grown feathers and results of self-inflicted mutilation . 26 

Lobed foot of Coot (Fulica americana), a swimming bird of 

the Rail family 27 

Lobed foot of a Phalarope {Crymopliilus fulicarius), a swim- 
ming bird of the Snipe family 27 

Flamingo, showing relative length of legs and neck in a wad- 
ing bird . . .28 

Foot of Fish Hawk, showing large claws and spicules on under 

surface of toes 29 

Naked toes of Ruffed Grouse in summer ; fringed toes of Ruffed 

Grouse in winter 29 

Decurved bill of Sickle-bill Hummingbird . . . .31 
Serrate bill of Merganser, a fish-eating bird . . . .32 
Probelike bill of Woodcock, showing extent to which upper 

mandible can be moved 32 

Recurved bill of Avocet 32 

Bill of Spoonbill Sandpiper . . . . . . , . 33 



xv i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIG. PAGE 

22. Curved bill of female, straight bill of male Huia-bird . . 33 

23. Feathers from back of Snowflake, showing seasonal changes in 

form and color due to wearing off of tips . . . .38 

24. Eggs of (a) Spotted Sandpiper and (b) Catbird, to show differ- 

ence in size of eggs of praecocial and altricial birds of same 
size • 68 

25. Topography of a bird . . . „ . . . .74 



BIRD-LIFE 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BIED: ITS PLACE IN NATURE AND 
RELATION TO MAN. 

The Bird's Place in Nature* — About thirteen 
thousand species of birds are known to science. The 
structure of many of these has been carefully studied, 
and all have been classified, at least provisionally. 
Taken as a whole, the class Aves, in which all birds are 
placed, is more clearly defined than any other group of 
the higher animals. That is, the most unlike birds are 
more closely allied than are the extremes among mam- 
mals, fishes, or reptiles, and all living birds possess the 
distinctive characters of their class. 

When compared with other animals, birds are found 
to occupy second place in the scale of life. They stand 
between mammals and reptiles, and are more closely re- 
lated to the latter than to the former. In fact, certain 
extinct birds so clearly connect living birds with rep- 
tiles, that these two classes are sometimes placed in one 
group — the Sauropsida. 

* On the structure of birds read Coues's Key to North American 
Birds, Part II (Estes & Lauriat) ; Headley, The Structure and Life of 
Birds ; Newton's Dictionary of Birds — articles, Anatomy of Birds and 
Fossil Birds ; Martin and Moale's Handbook of Vertebrate Dissection, 
Part II, How to Dissect a Bird ; Shuf eldt's Myology of the Raven 
(Macmillan Co.). 

3 1 



2 CHARACTERS OF BIRDS. 

The characters that distinguish birds from mammals 
on the one hand, and from reptiles on the other, are more 
apparent than real. Thus flight, the most striking of a 
bird's gifts, is shared by bats among mammals. Egg-lay- 
ing is the habit of most reptiles and of three mammals 
(the Australian duckbill and the echidnas). But incuba- 
tion by one or both of the parents is peculiar to birds, 
though the python is said to coil on its eggs. 

Birds breathe more rapidly than either mammals or 
reptiles, and their pneumaticity, or power of inflating 
numerous air-sacs and even certain bones, is unique. 

The temperature of birds ranges from 100° to 112°, 
while in mammals it reaches 98° to 100°, and in the com- 
paratively cold-blooded reptiles it averages only 40°. 

The skull in mammals articulates with the last verte- 
bra (atlas) by two condyles or balls ; in birds and reptiles 
by only one. In mammals and birds the heart has four 
chambers ; in reptiles it has but three. 

Mammals and reptiles both have teeth, a character 
possessed by no existing bird ; but fossil birds appar- 
ently prove that early in the development of the class 
all birds had teeth. 

Thus we might continue the comparison, finding that 
birds have no universal peculiarities of structure which 
are not present in some degree in either mammals or 
reptiles, until we come to their external covering. The 
reptile is scaled, and so is the fish ; the mammal is haired, 
and so are some insects ; but birds alone possess feathers. 
They are worn by every bird — a fit clothing for a body 
which is a marvelous combination of beauty, lightness, 
and strength. 

There is good evidence for the belief that birds have 
descended from reptilian ancestors. This evidence con- 
sists of the remains of fossil birds, some of which show 
marked reptilian characters and, as just said, are toothed. 










Plate II. Page 84. 

PIED-BILLED GREBE. 

Length, 13 -50 inches. Summer plumage, upper parts blackish brown ; throat 
and spot on bill black ; fore neck brownish, rest of under parts grayish 
white. Winter plumage, similar, but without black on throat or bill. 



ANCESTORS OF BIRDS. 3 

It is unnecessary to discuss here the relationships of the 
birdlike reptiles, but, as the most convincing argument 
in support of the theory of the reptilian descent of birds, 
I present a restoration of the Archgeopteryx, the earliest 
known progenitor of the class Aves. This restoration is 




Fig. 1. — Kestoration of the Archseopteryx, a 'toothed, reptilelike bird of the 
Jurassic period. (About y 5 natural size.) 

based on an examination of previous restorations in con- 
nection with a study of the excellent plates which have 
been published of the fossils themselves.* Two speci- 
mens have been discovered ; one being now in the British 
Museum, the other in the Berlin Museum. They were 
both found in the lithographic slates of Solenhofen, in 
Bavaria, a formation of the Jurassic period, and, together, 
furnish the more important details of the structure of this 
reptilelike bird. 

This restoration, therefore, while doubtless inaccurate 



* For recent papers on the Archgeopteryx see Natural Science 
(Macmillan Co.), vols, v-viii. 



4 DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS. 

in minor points, is still near enough to the truth to give 
a correct idea of this extraordinary bird's appearance. 

The Archseopteryx was about the size of a Crow. Its 
long, feathered tail is supposed to have acted as an aero- 
plane, assisting in the support of the bird while it was 
in the air, but its power of flight was doubtless limited. 
It was arboreal and probably never descended to the 
earth, but climbed about the branches of trees, using its 
large, hooked lingers in passing from limb to limb. 

The wanderings of this almost quadrupedal creature 
must necessarily have been limited, but its winged de- 
scendants of to-day are more generally distributed than 
are any other animals.* They roam the earth from pole 
to pole ; they are equally at home on a wave-washed 
coral reef or in an arid desert, amid arctic snows or in 
the shades of a tropical forest. This is due not alone to 
their powers of flight but to their adaptability to vary- 
ing conditions of life. Although, as I have said, birds 
are more closely related among themselves than are the 
members of either of the other higher groups of animals, 
and all birds agree in possessing the more important 
distinguishing characters of their class, yet they show a 
wide range of variation in structure. 

This, in most instances, is closely related to habits, 

* On the distribution of animals read Allen, The Geographical 
Distribution of North American Mammals, Bulletin of the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York city, iv, 1892, pp. 199-244; 
four maps. Allen, The Geographical Origin and Distribution of North 
American Birds considered in Relation to Faunal Areas of North 
America, The Auk (New York city), x. 1893, pp. 97-150; two maps. 
Merriam, The Geographic Distribution of Life in North America, with 
Special Reference to Mammalia, Proceedings of the Biological Society 
of Washington, vii, 1892, pp. 1-64; one map. Merriam, Laws of Tem- 
perature Control of the Geographic Distribution of Terrestrial Ani- 
mals and Plants, National Geographic Magazine (Washington), vi, 
1894, pp. 229-238 ; three maps. 



RELATION OF BIRDS TO MAN. 5 

which in birds are doubtless more varied than in any 
of the other higher animals. Some birds, like Penguins, 
are so aquatic that they are practically helpless on land. 
Their wings are too small to support them in the air, but 
they fly under water with great rapidity, and might be 
termed feathered porpoises. Others, like the Ostrich, 
are terrestrial, and can neither fly nor swim. Others 
still, like the Frigate Birds, are aerial. Their small 
feet are of use only in perching, and their home is in 
the air. 

If now we should compare specimens of Penguins, 
Ostriches, and Frigate-birds with each other, and with 
such widely different forms as Hummingbirds, Wood- 
peckers, Parrots, and others, we would realize still more 
clearly the remarkable amount of variation shown by 
birds. This great difference in form is accompanied by a 
corresponding variation in habit, making possible, as 
before remarked, the wide distribution of birds, which, 
together with their size and abundance, renders them of 
incalculable importance to man. Their economic value, 
however, may be more properly spoken of under 

The Relation of Birds to Man. — The relation of birds 
to man is threefold — the scientific, the economic, and the 
aesthetic. No animals form more profitable subjects for 
the scientist than birds. The embryologist, the morphol- 
ogist, and the systematist, the philosophic naturalist and 
the psychologist, all may find in them exhaustless mate- 
rial for study. It is not my purpose, however, to speak 
here of the science of ornithology. Let us learn some- 
thing of the bird in its haunts before taking it to the 
laboratory. The living bird can not fail to attract us ; 
the dead bird — voiceless, motionless — we will leave for 
future dissection. 

The economic value of birds to man lies in the service 
they render in preventing the undue increase of insects, 



6 ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS. 

in devouring small rodents, in destroying the seeds of 
harmful plants, and in acting as scavengers. 

Leading entomologists estimate that insects cause an 
annual loss of at least two hundred million dollars to the 
agricultural interests of the United States. The state- 
ment seems incredible, but is based upon reliable sta- 
tistics. This, of course, does not include the damage 
done to ornamental shrubbery, shade and forest trees. 
But if insects are the natural enemies of vegetation, birds 
are the natural enemies of insects. Consider for a mo- 
ment what the birds are doing for us any summer day, 
when insects are so abundant that the hum of their united 
voices becomes an almost inherent part of the atmosphere. 

In the air Swallows and Swifts are coursing rapidly 
to and fro, ever in pursuit of the insects which constitute 
their sole food. When they retire, the Nighthawks and 
Whip-poor-wills will take up the chase, catching moths 
and other nocturnal insects which would escape day-flying 
birds. The Flycatchers lie in wait, darting from ambush 
at passing prey, and with a suggestive click of the bill 
returning to their post. The Warblers, light, active crea- 
tures, flutter about the terminal foliage, and with almost 
the skill of a Hummingbird pick insects from leaf or 
blossom. The Yireos patiently explore the under sides of 
leaves and odd nooks and corners to see that no skulker 
escapes. The Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Creepers 
attend to the tree trunks and limbs, examining carefully 
each inch of bark for insects' eggs and larvse, or exca- 
vating for the ants and borers they hear at work within. 
On the ground the hunt is continued by the Thrushes, 
Sparrows, and other birds, who feed upon the innumer- 
able forms of terrestrial insects. Few places in which 
insects exist are neglected ; even some species which pass 
their earlier stages or entire lives in the water are preyed 
upon by aquatic birds. 










._l 



Plate ILL Page 85. 

LOON. 
Length, 32-00 inches. Summer plumage, upper parts and fore neck black 
and white; breast and belly white. Winter plumage, upper parts dark 
grayish; under parts white. 



ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS. 7 

Birds digest their food so rapidly, that it is difficult to 
estimate from the contents of a bird's stomach at a given 
time how much it eats during the day. The stomach of a 
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, shot at six o'clock in the morning, 
contained the partially digested remains of forty-three 
tent caterpillars, but how many it would have eaten be- 
fore night no one can say. 

Mr. E. H. Forbush, Ornithologist of the Board of 
Agriculture of Massachusetts, states that the stomachs 
of four Chickadees contained one thousand and twenty- 
eight eggs of the cankerworm. The stomachs of four 
other birds of the same species contained about six 
hundred eggs and one hundred and five female moths 
of the cankerworm. The average number of eggs 
found in twenty of these moths was one hundred and 
eighty -five ; and as it is estimated that a Chickadee may 
eat thirty female cankerworm moths per day during 
the twenty-five days which these moths crawl up trees, 
it follows that in this period each Chickadee would de- 
stroy one hundred and thirty-eight -thousand seven hun- 
dred and fifty eggs of this noxious insect. 

Professor Forbes, Director of the Illinois State Lab- 
oratory of Natural History, found one hundred and 
seventy-five larvae of Bibio — a fiy which in the larval 
stage feeds on the roots of grass — in the stomach of a 
single Eobin, and the intestine contained probably as 
many more. 

Many additional cases could be cited, showing the 
intimate relation of birds to insect-life, and emphasizing 
the necessity of protecting and encouraging these little- 
appreciated allies of the agriculturist. 

The service rendered man by birds in killing the 
small rodents so destructive to crops is performed by 
Hawks and Owls — birds the uninformed farmer con- 
siders his enemies. The truth is that, with two excep- 



8 ECONOMIC VALUE OP BIRDS. 

tions, the Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, all our com- 
moner Hawks and Owls are beneficial. In his exhaust- 
ive study of the foods of these birds Dr. A. K. Fisher, 
Assistant Ornithologist of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, has found that ninety per cent of the 
food of the Bed-shouldered Hawk, commonly called 
" Chicken Hawk " or " Hen Hawk," consists of injurious 
mammals and insects, while two hundred castings of the 
Barn Owl contained the skulls of four hundred and fifty- 
four small mammals, no less than two hundred and twenty- 
five of these being skulls of the destructive field or meadow 
mouse. 

Still, these birds are not only not protected, but in 
some States a price is actually set upon their heads ! 
Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornithologist and Mammalogist 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, has 
estimated that in offering a bounty on Hawks and Owls, 
which resulted in the killing of over one hundred thou- 
sand of these birds, the State of Pennsylvania sustained a 
loss of nearly four million dollars in one year and a half ! 

As destroyers of the seeds of harmful plants, the good 
done by birds can not be overestimated. From late fall 
to early spring, seeds form the only food of many birds, 
and every keeper of cage-birds can realize how many a 
bird may eat in a day. Thus, while the Chickadees, Nut- 
hatches, Woodpeckers, and some other winter birds are 
ridding the trees of myriads of insects' eggs and larvae, 
the granivorous birds are reaping a crop of seeds which, 
if left to germinate, would cause a heavy loss to our agri- 
cultural interests. 

As scavengers we understand that certain birds are of 
value to us, and therefore we protect them. Thus the 
Vultures or Buzzards of the South are protected both by 
law and public sentiment, and as a result they are not 
only exceedingly abundant, but remarkably tame. But 



ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS. 9 

we do not realize that Gulls and some other water birds 
are also beneficial as scavengers in eating refuse which, 
if left floating on the water, would often be cast ashore 
to decay. Dr. George F. Gaumer, of Yucatan, tells me 
that the killing of immense numbers of Herons and other 
littoral birds in Yucatan has been followed by an increase 
in human mortality among the inhabitants of the coast, 
which he is assured is a direct result of the destruction of 
birds that formerly assisted in keeping the beaches and 
bayous free from decaying animal matter. 

Lack of space forbids an adequate treatment of this 
subject, but reference to the works and papers mentioned 
below* will support the statement that, if we were de- 
prived of the services of birds, the earth would soon 
become uninhabitable. 

Nevertheless, the feathered protectors of our farms 
and gardens, plains and forests, require so little encour- 
agement from us — indeed, ask only tolerance — that we 
accept their services much as we do the air we breathe. 
We may be in debt to them past reckoning, and still be 
unaware of their existence. 

But to appreciate the beauty of form and plumage of 



* Notes on the Nature of the Food of the Birds of Nebraska, by 
S. Aughey; First Annual Report of the United States Entomological 
Commission for the Year 1877, Appendix ii, pp. 13-62. The Food of 
Birds, by S. A. Forbes ; Bulletin No. 3, Illinois State Laboratory of 
Natural History, 1880, pp. 80-148. The Regulative Action of Birds 
upon Insect Oscillations, by S. A. Forbes, ibid., Bulletin No. 6, 1883, 
pp. 3-32. Economic Relations of Wisconsin Birds, by F. H. King ; 
Wisconsin Geological Survey, vol. i, 1882, pp. 441-610. Report on the 
Birds of Pennsylvania, with Special Reference to the Food Habits, 
based on over Four Thousand Stomach Examinations, by B. H. War- 
ren ; Harrisburg, E. K. Meyers, State Printer, large 8vo, pp. 434, plates 
100. The English Sparrow in North America, especially in its Rela- 
tion to Agriculture, prepared under the Direction of C. Hart Merriam, 
by Walter B. Barrows ; Bulletin No. 1, Division of Economic Orni- 
thology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agricul- 
4 



10 AESTHETIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS. 

birds, their grace of motion and musical powers, we must 
know them. Then, too, we will be attracted by their 
high mental development, or what I have elsewhere 
spoken of as "their human attributes. Man exhibits 
hardly a trait which he will not find reflected in the life 
of a bird. Love, hate ; courage, fear ; anger, pleasure ; 
vanity, modesty ; virtue, vice ; constancy, fickleness ; gen- 
erosity, selfishness ; wit, curiosity, memory, reason — we 
may find them all exhibited in the lives of birds. Birds 
have thus become symbolic of certain human character- 
istics, and the more common species are so interwoven in 
our art and literature that by name at least they are 
known to all of us." 

The sight of a bird or the sound of its voice is at all 
times an event of such significance to me, a source of 
such unfailing pleasure, that when I go afield with those 
to whom birds are strangers, I am deeply impressed by 
the comparative barrenness of their world, for they live 
in ignorance of the great store of enjoyment which might 
be theirs for the asking. 

I count each day memorable that brought me a new 
friend among the birds. It was an event to be recorded 
in detail. A creature which, up to that moment, existed 

ture, 1889. The Hawks and Owls of the United States in their Rela- 
tion to Agriculture, prepared under the Direction of C. Hart Mer- 
riarn, by A. K. Fisher; Bulletin No. 3, ibid., 1893. The Common 
Crow of the United States, by Walter B. Barrows and E. A. Schwarz; 
Bulletin No. 6, ibid., 1895. Preliminary Report on the Food of 
Woodpeckers, by F. E. L. Beal ; Bulletin No. 7, ibid., 1895. (See also 
other papers on the food of birds in the Annual Report and Year- 
book of the United States Department of Agriculture.) Birds as 
Protectors of Orchards, by E. H. Forbush ; Bulletin No. 3, Massachu- 
setts State Board of Agriculture, 1895, pp. 20-32. The Crow in Mas- 
sachusetts, by E. H. Forbush ; Bulletin No. 4, ibid., 1896. How 
Birds affect the Farm and Garden, by Florence A. Merriam; re- 
printed from "Forest and Stream," 1896, 16mo, pp. 31. Price, 5 
cents. 







Plate IV. Pages 86, I 

HERRING GULL. 
Length, 24-00 inches. Adult, back and wings pearl-gray ; end of primaries 
marked with black; rest of plumage white. Young, dark grayish, primaries 
and tail brownish black. 

PETRELS. 
Length, 7-50 inches. Black, upper tail-coverts white. 



ESTHETIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS. U 

for me only as a name, now became an inhabitant of my 
woods, a part of my life. With what a new interest I 
got down my books again, eagerly reading every item 
concerning this new friend ; its travels, habits, and notes ; 
comparing the observations of others with what were 
now my own ! 

The study of birds is not restricted to any special sea- 
son. Some species are always with us. Long after the 
leaves have fallen and the fields are bare and brown, 
when insect voices are hushed, and even some mammals 
are sleeping their winter sleep, the cheery Juncos flit 
about our doorstep, the White-throats twitter cozily from 
the evergreens, Tree Sparrows chatter gayly over their 
breakfast of seeds, and Crows are calling from the woods. 
Birds are the only living creatures to be seen ; what a 
sense of companionship their presence gives ; how deso- 
late the earth would seem without them ! 

The ease with which we may become familiar with 
these feathered neighbors of ours robs ignorance of all 
excuses. Once aware of their existence, and we shall see 
a bird in every bush and find the heavens their pathway. 
One moment we may admire their beauty of plumage, 
the next marvel at the ease and grace with which they 
dash by us or circle high overhead. 

But birds will appeal to us most strongly through 
their songs. When your ears are attuned to the music 
of birds, your world will be transformed. Birds' songs 
are the most eloquent of Nature's voices : the gay carol of 
the Grosbeak in the morning, the dreamy, midday call 
of the Pewee, the vesper hymn of the Thrush, the clang- 
ing of Geese in the springtime, the farewell of the Blue- 
bird in the fall — how clearly each one expresses the senti- 
ment of the hour or season ! 

Having learned a bird's language, you experience an 
increased feeling of comradeship with it. You may even 



12 



ESTHETIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS. 



share its emotions as you learn the significance of its 
notes. No one can listen to the song of the Mockingbird 
without being in some way affected ; but in how many 
hearts does the tinh of the night-flying Bobolink find a 
response ? I never hear it without wishing the brave 
little traveler Godspeed on his long journey. 

As time passes you will find that the songs of birds 
bring a constantly increasing pleasure. This is the result 
of association. The places and people that make our 
world are ever changing ; the present slips from us with 
growing rapidity, but the birds are ever with us. 

The Robin singing so cheerily outside my window 
sings not for himself alone, but for hundreds of Robins I 
have known at other times and places. His song recalls 
a March evening, warm with the promise of spring ; May 
mornings, when all the world seemed to ring with the 
voices of birds ; June days, when cherries were ripening ; 
the winter sunlit forests of Florida, and even the snow- 
capped summit of glorious Popocatepetl. And so it is 
with other birds. We may, it is true, have known them 
for years, but they have not changed, and their familiar 
notes and appearance encourage the pleasant self-delusion 
that we too are the same. 

The slender saplings of earlier years now give wide- 
spreading shade, the scrubby pasture lot has become a 
dense woodland. Boyhood's friends are boys no longer, 
and, worst of all, there has appeared another generation 
of boys whose presence is discouraging proof that for us 
youth has past. Then some May morning we hear the 
Wood Thrush sing. Has he, too, changed ? Not one 
note, and as his silvery voice rings through the woods 
we are young again. No fountain of youth could be 
more potent. A hundred incidents of the long ago be- 
come as real as those of yesterday. And here we have 
the secret of youth in age which every venerable natural- 



ESTHETIC RELATIONS OF BIRDS. 13 

ist I have ever met has convincingly illustrated. I could 
name nearly a dozen, living and dead, whom it has been 
my valued privilege to know. All had passed the allotted 
threescore and ten, and some were over fourscore. The 
friends and associates of their earlier days had passed 
away, and one might imagine that they had no interest 
in life and were simply waiting for the end. 

But these veterans were old in years only. Their 
hearts were young. The earth was fair; plants still 
bloomed, and birds sang for them. There was no idle 
waiting here ; the days were all too short. With what 
boyish ardor they told of some recent discovery ; what 
inspiration there was in their enthusiasm ! 

So I say to you, if you would reap the purest pleas- 
ures of youth, manhood, and old age, go to the birds and 
through them be brought within the ennobling influences 
of Nature. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE LIVING BIRD. 

Factors of Evolution. — If while in the fields we ob- 
serve birds with an appreciative eye, we shall soon be 
impressed with the great diversity shown in their struc- 
ture and habits. The Fish Hawk plunges from the air 
into the water and grasps its prey with merciless talons. 
The Hummingbird daintily probes a flower. The Wood- 
pecker climbs an upright trunk, props itself with its 
stiff, pointed tail-feathers, while with its chisel-shaped 
bill it excavates a grub and then impales it with its 
spearlike tongue. These birds tell us a wonderful story 







Fig. 2. — End of spearlike tongue of Pileated Woodpecker. (Much enlarged.) 

of adaptation to the conditions of life, and, knowing that 
they have descended from a common ancestor, we ask, 
" Why do they now differ so widely from one another ? " 
Biologists the world over are trying to satisfactorily 
answer this question, and it is impossible for me to 
even mention here all the theories which they have 
advanced. However, some knowledge of the most im- 
portant ones is essential if you would study the relation 
between the bird and its haunts and habits. The Dar- 
win-Wallace theory of Natural Selection, in more or less 

14 




Plate V. 



1 WOOD DUCK. 

2 PINTAIL. 

3 MALLARD. 



4 5 Page 

4 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 

5 BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 

6 CANADA GEESE. 



EVOLUTION OF BIRDS. 15 

modified forms, is accepted by most naturalists. As 
originally presented, it assumed that the continued exist- 
ence of any animal depended upon its adaptation to its 
manner of Kfe. Among a large number of individuals 
there is much variation in size, form, and color. Some 
of these variations might prove favorable, others unfa- 
vorable. Those which were favorable would give to the 
individual possessing them an advantage over its fellows, 
and, by what is termed Natural Selection, it would be 
preserved and its favorable characters transmitted to its 
descendants. But the less fortunate individuals, which 
lacked the favorable variation, would be handicapped in 
the race for life and be less likely to survive. 

Without necessarily opposing this theory, the follow- 
ers of Darwin's predecessor, Lamarck, attach more im- 
portance to the direct action of environment on the ani- 
mal — that is, the influence of climate, food, and habit. 
The effect of the first two I will speak of in treating of 
color ; the last we may use to illustrate the difference in 
these two theories by asking the question, " Is habit due 
to structure, or is structure the result of habit ? " Has 
Nature, acting through natural selection, preserved those 
variations which would best fit a bird to occupy its 
place in the world, and are its habits the outcome of 
the characters thus acquired, or have the changes which 
during the ages have occurred in a bird's home, forcing 
it to alter its habits, been followed by some consequent 
change in structure, the result of use or of disuse ? For 
my part, I answer " Yes " to both questions, and turn to 
our stiff-tailed, spear-tongued Woodpecker to explain 
my reply. I can readily understand how the shape of 
these tail-feathers is the result of habit, for the same or 
similar structure exists among many birds having no 
close relationship to one another, but all of which agree 
in their peculiar use of the tail as a prop ; the Creep- 



16 



EVOLUTION OF BIRDS. 



ers, Woodhewers, and Swifts, even some Finches and 
the Bobolink, that nse their tail to support them when 
perched on swaying reeds, have the feathers more or 
less pointed and stiffened. Furthermore, this is just the 
result we should expect from a habit of this kind. But 





a b 

Fig. 3. — Tip of tail of (a) Downy Woodpecker and of (b) Brown Creeper, to 
show the pointed shape in tails of creeping birds of different families. 
(Natural size.) 

I do not understand how the Woodpecker's spear-tipped 
tongue could have resulted from the habit of impaling 
grubs, and in this case I should be inclined to regard 
structure as due to a natural selection which has pre- 
served favorable variations in the form of this organ. 

I have not space to discuss this subject more fully, 
but trust that enough has been said to so convince you 
of the significance of habit, that when you see a bird in 
the bush it will not seem a mere automaton, but in each 
movement will give you evidence of a nice adjustment 
to its surroundings. Remember, too, that evolution is a 
thing of the present as well as of the past. We may not 
be able to read the earlier pages in the history of a species, 
but the record of to-day is open to us if we can learn to 
interpret it. 

This may be made clearer, and the importance of a 
study of habit be emphasized, if I briefly outline the rela- 
tion between the wings, tail, feet, and bill of birds and 
the manner in which they are used. We are in the field, 
not in the dissecting room ; our instrument is a field glass, 
not a scalpel, and in learning the functions of these four 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 



IT 



organs we shall direct our attention to their external form 
rather than their internal structure. 

The Wing. — Birds' wings are primarily organs of 
locomotion, but they are also used as weapons, as musical 
instruments, in expressing emotion, and they are some- 




Fig. 4. 



-Young Hoatzin, showing use of hooked fingers in climbing. (After 
Lucas.) 



times the seat of sexual adornment. As an organ of loco- 
motion the wing's most primitve use is doubtless for 
climbing. Gallinules, for instance, have a small spur on 
the wrist or " bend of the wing," and the young birds 
use it to assist their progress among the reeds. A more 
striking instance of this nature is shown by that singular 
South American bird, the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus oris- 
5 



18 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 



tatus). The young of this bird have well-developed claws 
on the thumb and first finger, and long before they can 
fly they nse them as aids in clambering about the bushes, 
very much as we may imagine the Archaeopteryx did. 
In the adult these claws are wanting. 

Some eminently aquatic birds, as Grebes and Pen- 
guins, when on land, may use their wings as fore legs in 
scrambling awkwardly along ; while some flightless birds, 
for example, the Ostrich, spread their wings when run- 
ning. 

But let us consider the wing in its true office, that of 
an organ of flight, showing its range of variation, and 

finally its degradation into 
a flightless organ. Among 
flying birds the spread 
wings measure in extent 
from about three inches in 
the smallest Hummingbird 
to twelve or fourteen feet 
in the Wandering Albatross. The relation between 
shape of wing and style of flight is so close that if you 
show an ornithologist a bird's wing he can generally 
tell you the character of its owner's flight. The ex- 
tremes are shown by the short- winged ground birds, 




Fig. 5. — Short, rounded wing and large 
foot of Little Black Rail, a terres- 
trial bird. ( 3 /5 natural size.) 




Yiq. 6.— Long, pointed wing and small foot of Tree Swallow, an aerial bird. 
( 3 / 5 natural size.) 



such as Eail, Quail, Grouse, certain Sparrows, etc., and 
lonp:-winp:ed birds, like the Swallows and Albatrosses. 
There is here a close and, for the ground-inhabiting 




Plate VI. 

LITTLE GREEN HERON 
{Length, if-oo inches.) 



Page 90. 
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 

(Young and Adult.) 
{Length, 24-00 inches.) 
GREAT BLUE HERON. 
[Length, 4jfoo inches.) 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 



19 



birds, important relation between form and habit. 
Many terrestrial species rely on their dull, protective 
covering to escape observation, taking wing only when 
danger is so near that it is necessary for them to get 
under way at once. Consequently, Quail, Partridges, 
and Grouse, much to the amateur sportsman's discom- 
fiture, spring from the ground as though thrown from 
a catapult, and reach their highest speed within a few 
yards of the starting point, while the Albatross is obliged 
to face the wind and run some distance over the ground 
or water before slowly lifting itself into the air. There, 
however, it can remain for hours or even days without 
once alighting. 

The Frigate Bird, or Man-o'-War Bird, has a body 
scarcely larger than that of a chicken, but its tail is one 
foot and a half in length, and its wings measure seven to 




Fig. 7. 



/ 
-Frigate Bird. 



(Expanse of wings, 7 to 8 feet.) 



eight feet in extent. Having this enormous spread of 
sail, its flight is more easy and graceful than that of any 
living bird. I have seen hundreds of these birds floating 
in the air, facing the wind, without apparent change of 
position or the movement of a pinion, for long intervals 
of time. 

From this extreme development of the wing as a 
flight-organ, let us turn to those birds who have not 
the power of flight. The Ostrich, Ehea, Emu, and 
Cassowary are familar representatives of this group. It 
is generally believed that these birds have lost the power 



20 FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 

of flight, and that as their wings, through disuse, became 
functionless, their running powers correspondingly in- 
creased. This, however, is theory, but there are birds 
which have become flightless through some apparently 
known cause. They may be found among such widely 
separated families as Grebes, Auks, Ducks, Rails, Galli- 
miles, Pigeons, and Parrots. 

One of the characteristic water birds of our North 
Atlantic coasts is the Razor-billed Auk. It is a strictly 
aquatic species, nearly helpless on land, which, as a rule, 
it visits only when nesting. Its egg is laid in the crevice 
of a rocky cliff, frequently at some height from the sea. 
During the winter it migrates southward as far as Long 
Island. Flight is therefore a necessary faculty, and we 
find the bird with well-developed wings, which it uses 
effectively. We can, however, imagine conditions under 
which it would not be necessary for the Razor-bill to 
fly. It might become a permanent resident of isolated 
islands, laying its egg on accessible beaches. Already 
an expert diver, obtaining its food in the water, it would 
not be obliged to rise into the air, and, as a result of dis- 
use, the wings would finally become too small to support it 
in aerial flight, though fully answering the purpose of oars. 

Apparently this is what has happened in the case of 
the Razor-billed Auk's relative, the flightless, extinct 
Great Auk. The Razor-bill is sixteen inches long and 
its wing measures eight inches, while the Great Auk, 
with a length of thirty inches, has a wing only five and 
three fourths inches in length. Aside from this differ- 
ence in measurements these birds closely resemble each 
other. So far as we are familiar with the Great Auk's 
habits, they agreed with those of the hypothetical case I 
have just mentioned, and we are warranted, I think, in 
assuming that the bird lost the power of flight through 
disuse of its wings. 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 



21 



In antarctic seas we find the arctic Auks replaced 
by the Penguins, a group in which all the members are 
flightless. They are possessed of remarkable aquatic 




Fig. 8. — Great Auk, showing relatively small wing. (Length of bird 
inches; of winsr, 5-75 inches.) 



30 



powers, and can, it is said, outswim even fish. They 
nest only on isolated islands, where they are hot exposed 
to the attack of predaceous mammals. 

Among Grebes and Ducks we have illustrations of 
the way in which swimming birds may become tempo- 
rarily flightless. With most land-inhabiting birds flight 
is so important a faculty that any injury to the wings is 
apt to result fatally. It is necessary, therefore, that 
the power of flight shall not be impaired. Conse- 
quently, when molting, the wing-feathers are shed 
slowly and symmetrically, from the middle of the wing 
both inwardly and outwardly ; the new feathers ap- 
pear so quickly that at no time are there more than 
two or three quills missing from either wing. But the 



22 FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 

aquatic Grebes and Ducks, protected by the nature of 
their haunts and habits, lose all their wing-feathers at 
once, and are flightless until their new plumage has 
grown. 

It might then be supposed that permanently flightless 
forms would be found among the Grebes and Ducks. 
But these birds are generally migratory, or, if resident, 
they usually inhabit bodies of fresh water where local 
conditions or droughts may so affect the food supply that 
change of residence would become necessary. However, 
on Lake Titicaca, Peru, there actually is a Grebe which 
has lived there long enough to have lost the use of its 
wings as flight-organs. 

Rails are such ground-lovers, and fly so little, that we 
should expect to find flightless forms among them when 
the surroundings were favorable for their development. 
In New Zealand, that island of so many flightless birds, 
the requirements are evidently fulfilled, and we have the 
flightless Wood Hens. Here, too, lives the flightless 
Gallinule, Notornis, and in this family of Gallinules, 
birds not unlike Coots, there are at least four flightless 
species inhabiting islands — one in the Moluccas, one in 
Samoa, one on Tristan d'Acunha, and one on Gough 
Island. The last two islands are about fifteen hundred 
miles from Cape Good Hope, and have evidently never 
been connected with a continent. There seems little 
reason to doubt, therefore, that the ancestors of the 
Gallinules now inhabiting these islands reached them 
by the use of their wings, and that these organs have 
since become too small and weak to support their owners 
in the air. Other cases might be cited; for instance, 
the Dodo of Mauritius among Pigeons, and the Kakapo 
(Stringops) of New Zealand among Parrots ; but if the 
illustrations already given have not convinced you that 
disuse of the wings may result in loss of flight, let 







Plate VII. Pages 93, 94. 

AMERICAN BITTERN. 

Length, 28-00 inches. A black streak on neck; body brown and buff; pri- 
maries slate-color. 

SORA. 
Length, 8-50 inches. Adult, upper parts olive-brown, black, and white; 
throat and face black, breast slate, belly white, flanks black and white. 
Young, similar, but face, throat, and breast white, washed with brownish. 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. "23 

me take you finally to the poultry yard, where in the 
waddling Duck you will see an. undeniable instance of 
degeneration. 

As the seat of sexual characters the wing is some- 
times most singularly developed or adorned. The males 
of the Argus Pheasant and Pennant-winged Nightjar 
have certain feathers enormously lengthened ; the Stand- 
ard-bearer has white plumes growing from the wing ; and 
there are many other cases in which the wing presents sex- 
ual characters, not alone through display, but also by 
use as a musical organ. I do not refer to the whistling 
sound made by the wings of flying Doves or Ducks, or 
the humming of Hummingbirds, but to sounds volun- 
tarily produced by birds, and evidently designed to an- 
swer the purpose of song. 

A simple form of this kind of " music " is shown by 
the cock in clapping his wings before crowing, in the 
"drumming" of Grouse, or in the " booming " of Night- 
hawks, as with wings set they dive from a height earth- 
ward. The male Cassique (Ostinops) of South America, 
after giving voice to notes which sound like those pro- 
duced by chafing trees in a gale, leans far forward, 
spreads and raises his large orange and black tail, then 
vigorously claps his wings together over his back, mak- 
ing a noise which so resembles the cracking of branches 
that one imagines the birds learned this ■ singular per- 
formance during a gale. 

The birds mentioned thus far have no especial wing 
structure beyond rather stiffened feathers ; but in the 
Woodcock, some Paradise-birds and Flycatchers, Guans, 
Pipras, and other tropical birds, certain wing-feathers 
are singularly modified as musical instruments. Some- 
times the outer primaries are so narrowed that little but 
the shaft or midrib is left, as in both sexes of the Wood- 
cock, when the rapid wing-strokes are accompanied by a 



24 



FORM AND HABIT: THE WING. 



high, whistling sound. In other cases the shafts of the 
wing-feathers may be much enlarged and horny, when 

the bird makes a sin- 
gular snapping sound 
in flight. 

If you recall the 
supplicating manner of 
a young bird as with 
gently fluttering wings 
it begs for food, you 
will recognize one of several ways in which the wings 
may express emotion. Birds also threaten with their 
wings, as any hen with chicks will testify, and from this 




Fig. 9. — Wing of Woodcock, showing three 
outer attenuate feathers. (y 2 natural 
size.) 




Fig. 10. — Jacana, showing spur on wing (natural size) and elongated toes (V 3 
natural size). 

gesture to the actual delivery of a blow is but a step. 
Swans, Pigeons, and Chickens can deal forcible blows 
with their wings. Screamers, Lapwings, and Jacanas 



FORM AND HABIT: THE TAIL. 25 

have formidable spurs on their wings, which they are 
supposed to use in combat. 

The Tail. — Except when sexually developed, the 
shape of the tail is largely governed by the character 
of its owner's flight. Male Lyre-birds, Pheasants, Fowls, 
Hummingbirds, and many others furnish well-marked 
instances of the tail as a sexual character. Indeed, as 
the least important to the bird of the four external 
organs we are speaking of, the tail is more often sexually 
modified than any of the other three. 

The main office of the tail, however, is mechanical, to 
act as a rudder in flight and a "balancer" when perch- 
ing. Short-tailed birds generally fly in a straight course, 
and can not make sharp turns, while long-tailed birds can 
pursue a most erratic course, with marvelous ease and 
grace. The Grebes are practically tailless, and their 
flight is comparatively direct, but the Swallow-tailed 
Kite, with a tail a foot or more in length, can dash to 
right or left at the most abrupt angle. 

Among tree-creeping birds, which always climb up- 
ward, the tail is used as a brace or prop'. This character, as 
has been said, is possessed by all Woodpeckers, by the quite 
different Woodhewers of South America, the Brown Creep- 
ers of temperate regions, and other birds (see Figs. 3 and 4). 

The two middle feathers in the tail of the Motmot, 
of the American tropics, end in a racket-shaped disk, the 
result of a unique habit. Similarly shaped feathers are 
found in the tails of some Hummingbirds and Old World 
Kingfishers, but in the Motmot this peculiar shape is due 
to a self-inflicted mutilation. The newly grown feathers, 
as shown in the accompanying figure, lack the terminal 
disk, but as soon as they are grown, the birds begin to 
pick at the barbs, and in a short time the shaft is de- 
nuded, in some species for the space of an inch, in others 
for as much as two inches. 



26 



FORM AND HABIT: THE TAIL. 



This singular habit is practiced by numerous species 
of Motmots, ranging from Mexico to Brazil. It is there- 
fore of undoubted age, and we can only speculate upon 
its use and origin. Young birds from the nest, reared 




Fig. 11. — Central tail-feathers of Motmot (Momotus svbrufescens), showing 
newly grown feathers (at the left) and results of self-inflicted mutilation. 

in confinement where they were isolated from others of 
their kind, trimmed their tail-feathers soon after they 
were grown.* 

The habit, therefore, is inherited, but the mutilation, 
although it has doubtless been practiced for countless 
generations, has not become inherent, unless we consider 
the constriction in the vane of the feather at the place 
where it is to be trimmed an indication of inheritance. 

The Motmot gesticulates with its tail in a remarkable 
manner, swinging it from side to side, so that it suggests 
the pendulum of a clock, or sweeping it about in circles 
with a movement which reminds one of a bandmaster 
flourishing his baton. We shall find in other species, 
also, that the tail, more than any other organ, is used to 
express emotion. Recall its twitching and wagging ; how 
it is nervously spread or "jetted," showing the white 



* See Cherrie, The Auk (New York city), vol. ix, 1892, p." 322. 




Plate VIII. Page 94. 

AMERICAN COOT. 
Length, 15-00 inches. Head and neck blackish, body slate; under tail cov- 
erts, tips of secondaries, and end of bill white. 
CLAPPER RAIL. 
Length, 14-50 inches. Upper parts pale greenish olive and gray; throat 
white, breast pale cinnamon, flanks gray and white. 



ss 



FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. 



-27 



outer feathers, as in the Meadowlark. The tail may 
also be expressive of disposition.. Compare the drooped 
tail of a pensive Flycatcher with the nptilted member of 
an inquisitive Wren. 

But it is when displaying its beauties that a bird 
speaks most eloquently with its tail. Can anything ex- 
ceed the pompous pride of a Turkey cock strutting in 
swollen glory, with tail stiffly spread ? The Peacock 
erects his tail in a similar manner, but it is entirely con- 
cealed by the train of gorgeous feathers which it par- 
tially supports. 

The Feet. — As the feet share with the wings the re- 
sponsibilities of locomotion, there is often a close rela- 
tion between these organs. For example, short-winged 
terrestrial species like Quails, Grouse, and Rails have well- 
developed feet, but such aerial creatures as Swifts and 
Swallows have exceedingly small feet (see Figs. 3 and 4). 
The aquatic Grebes and Divers are practically helpless on 
land, but the Ostrich can outrun the horse ; while in the 
perching birds the foot is so specialized that by the auto- 





Fig. 12. — Lobed foot of a Coot, a 
swimming bird of the Eail 
family. (y 3 natural size.) 



Fig. 13.— Lobed foot of a Phala- 
rope, a swimming bird of the 
Snipe family. (Natural size.) 



matic action of certain tendons the birds are locked to 
their perches while sleeping. A webbed foot implies abil- 
ity to swim, and we find this character present in all the 



28 



FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. 



water-loving Divers, Auks, Gulls, Cormorants, and Ducks. 
In the wading Herons and marsh-inhabiting Rails and 
Gallinules the web is absent, but it reappears in the form 
of lobes on the toes of the aquatic Coots of the same 
family. 

Some shore-inhabiting Snipe have the bases of the 
toes united by webs, but the Phalaropes, of two species, 
have lobed toes not unlike those of the Coots, and are 
true swimming Snipe living on the sea for long periods. 

Length of foot is largely dependent upon length of 
neck. This is illustrated by the Herons, and is particu- 
larly well shown by the 
long-necked Flamingo, 
which has a foot twelve 
inches long. Its toes 
are webbed, and it can 
wade in deep water and 
search for food on the 
bottom by immersing 
its long neck and its 
head. 

In the tropical Ja- 
canas the toes and toe- 
nails are much length- 
ened, enabling the bird 
to pass over the water 
on aquatic plants. I 
have seen these birds 
walking on small lily 
leaves, which sank be- 
neath their weight, giv- 
ing one the impression 
that they were walking on the water (see Fig. 10). 

Many ground-feeding birds use the feet in scratching 
for food ; Chickens are familiar examples. Towhees and 




Fig. 14. — Flamingo, showing relative lengtl 
of legs and neck in a wading bird 
(Much reduced.) 



FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. 



29 



Sparrows use both feet in searching for food, jumping 
quickly backward and throwing the leaves behind them. 

Parrots use their foot as a hand. Some Hawks carry 
nesting material in it, and all birds of 
prey strike their quarry with their 
strongly curved claws, which are then 
used to carry, or hold it while it is 
being torn by the bill. The foot of 
the Fish Hawk is a magnificent organ. 
The nails are strong and well curved ; 
the inner surface of the toes is set with 
sharp, horny spikes, and the outer toe 
is partly reversible, so that the bird 
grasps its slippery prey from four dif- 
ferent points. 

As a weapon the foot is especially 
effective, the use of spurs being too 
well known to require comment. Os- 
triches kick with their feet, and can, it is said, deliver a 
blow powerful enough to fell a man. 

But by far the best instance of modification in the 
structure of the feet is furnished by Grouse. It is an 




Fig. 15.— Foot of Fish 
Hawk, showing large 
claws, and spicules on 
under surface of toes. 
(Y 3 natural size.) 





Fig. 16. — Naked toes of Euifed Grouse in summer; fringed toes of Buffed 
Grouse in winter. ( 2 / 3 natural size.) 

unusual case of seasonal adaptation in form. During the 
summer the toes of Grouse are bare and slender, but as 



30 FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. 

these birds are largely ground-haunters, and most of them 
inhabit regions where the snowfall is heavy, the toes in 
winter acquire a comblike fringe on either side. Practi- 
cally, therefore, Grouse don snowshoes in the fall, and 
wear them until the following spring. 

The Bill. — Of the four organs we are considering, 
the bill is beyond question the most . important. We 
have seen that a bird may be wingless and practically 
tailless, and may almost lose the use of its feet ; but 
from the moment the bill breaks the eggshell and 
liberates the chick, the bird's life is dependent upon its 
services. The variety of offices performed by the bill, 
and the correspondingly numerous forms it assumes, are, 
doubtless, without parallel in the animal world. 

The special modification of the fore Jimbs as flight- 
organs deprives birds of their use for other important 
services, and consequently we have a biped which, so far 
as their assistance goes, is without arms or hands. As a 
result, the duties which would naturally fall to these 
members are performed by the bill, whose chief office, 
therefore, is that of a hand. 

Occasionally it is sexually adorned, as in the Puffins, 
several Auks, Ducks, and the White Pelicans, which, 
during the nesting season, have some special plate, knob, 
or color on the bill. With the Woodpeckers it is a 
musical instrument — the drumstick with which they beat 
a tattoo on some resounding limb. Owls and some other 
birds, when angry or frightened, snap their mandibles 
together like castanets. But it is as a hand that the 
bill gives best evidence of adaptation to or by habit. 
Among families in which the wings, tail, and feet are 
essentially alike in form, the bill may present great vari- 
ation — proof apparently of its response to the demands 
made upon it. 

All birds use it as a comb and brush with which to 




Plate IX. Page 97. 

WILSON'S SNIPE. 
Length, 11-25 inches. Upper parts Black, buff, and rusty; throat and belly 
white, rest of under parts black and buff. 



FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. .31 

perform their toilet, and, pressing a drop of oil from the 
gland at the root of the tail, they dress their feathers 
with their bill. Parrots nse the bill in climbing, and 
its hawklike shape in these birds is an nnnsnal instance 
of similarity in structure accompanying different habits. 

Birds which do not strike with their feet may nse 
the bill as a weapon, but the manner in which it is em- 
ployed corresponds so closely with the method by which 
a bird secures its food, that as a weapon the bill pre- 
sents no special modifications. In constructing the nest 
the bill may be used as a trowel, an auger, a needle, a 
chisel, and as several other tools. 

But as a hand the bill's most important office is that 
of procuring food ; and wonderful indeed are the forms 
it assumes to supply the appetites of birds who may 
require a drop of nectar or a tiny insect from the heart 
of a flower, a snake from the marshes, a clam or mussel 
from the ocean's beach, or a fish from its waters. The 
bill, therefore, becomes a forceps, lever, chisel, hook, 
hammer, awl, probe, spoon, spear, sieve, net, and knife — 
in short, there is almost no limit to its shape and uses. 

With Hummingbirds the shape of the bill is appar- 
ently related to the flowers from which the bird most 
frequently procures its food. It ranges in length from 
a quarter of an inch in the 
Small-billed Hummer (Micro- 
rhynchus) to iive inches in 
the Siphon- bill (Docimastes), 
which has a bill longer than T 

., , , , . . _ & . _ Fig. 17.— Decurved bill of Sickle- 

ltS body, and IS Said to feed bill Hummingbird. (Natural 

from the long-tubed trumpet 

flowers. The Avocet Hummer (Avocettula) has a bill 
curved slightly upward, but in the Sickle -billed Hummer 
(Eutoxeres) it is curved downward to form half a circle, 
and the bird feeds on flowers having a similarly curved 




32 



FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. 



corolla. In the Tooth-billed Hummer (Androdon) both 
mandibles are finely serrate at the end, the upper one 
being also hooked, and the bird feeds on insects which it 
captures on the surface of leaves and other places. 

Among the Woodhewers (Dendrocolaptidce) of South 
America there is fully as much variability, which reflects 

equally variable feeding 
habits. Some species have 
short, stout, straight bills, 
others exceedingly long, 
slender, curved ones. 

Fig. 18.— Serrate bill of Merganser, a fish- Mergansers, Gannets, An- 

eating bird. (y 2 natural size.) ° . 

hmgas, and other birds 
that catch fish by pursuing them under water, have 
sharply serrate mandibles, which aid them in holding 
their slippery prey. 

Some shore birds (Limicolce) use the bill as a probe, 





Fig. 19. — Probelike bill of Woodcock, showing extent to which upper mandi- 
ble can be moved. ( 2 / 3 natural size.) 



when it may be six inches in length and straight, or 
curved downward. It has recently been learned that 




Fig. 



-Recurved bill of Avocet. ( 2 / 3 natural size.) 



several of these probing Snipe, notably the Woodcock, 
have the power of moving the end of the upper mandi- 



FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. 



33 



ble, which better enables them to grasp objects while 
probing. In the Avocet the bill is curved upward, and the 
bird swings it from side to side, scraping the bottom in 
its search for food. The New 
Zealand Wrybill has its bill 
turned to the right for the ter- 
minal third, and the bird uses 
it as a crooked probe to push 
under stones in hunting for its 
prey. The Siberian Spoonbill 
Sandpiper has a most singular 
bill, which is much enlarged at the end, suggesting a 
flat-ended forceps. The Roseate Spoonbill, an entirely 
different bird, has a somewhat similarly shaped bill, a 
striking instance of the occurrence of the same form in 
families which are not closely related. 

But probably the most remarkable instance of relation 




Fig. 21.— Bill of Spoonbill Sand- 
piper. (jStatm-al size.) 




Fig. 22. — Curved bill of female, straight bill of male Huia-bird. (i/ 2 natural 

size.) 



between the form of the bill and feeding habits is fur- 
nished by the Huia-bird of New Zealand. The male of 
this species has a comparatively short, straight bill, while 
7 



34 FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. 

that of the female is long and curved. The birds feed 
on larvae, which they find in dead wood. The male 
hammers and chisels away the wood very much as Wood- 
peckers do, while the female uses her bill as a probe. 
We have, therefore, the singular case of two forms of 
the bill arising in the same species as a result of or caus- 
ing a corresponding difference in habit. 




Plate X. Pages 87, 98, 99. 

COMMON TERN. 

(Length, i^'OO inches.} 

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. 

[Length, 6-jo inches.) [Length, 6.yj inches.) 



CHAPTEK III. 

COLOES OF BIRDS.* 

The almost endless range of variation in the colors 
and pattern of coloration of birds' plumage has attracted 
the attention of many philosophic naturalists. Why, for 
example, should birds from some regions always be 
darker than those from other regions ; why should 
ground-inhabiting birds generally wear a dull or neutral 
tinted costume ; and why should the male, with few ex- 
ceptions, be brighter than the female ? 

For answer I will outline some of the leading facts 
and theories in connection with this interesting subject. 
In the first place, however, it will be necessary for us to 
have some idea of the extent of individual change in 
color, that is, the various phases of color, which a bird 
may pass through during different periods of its life.f 

* Consult Poulton, Colors of Animals (D. Appleton & Co.). Gadow, 
in Newton's Dictionary of Birds — articles, Color and Feathers. Bed- 
dard, Animal Coloration (Macmillan Co.). Keeler, Evolution of the 
Colors of North American Land Birds ; occasional papers, California 
Academy of Sciences (San Francisco), iii. 1893. Also Allen, reviews 
of last two works, The Auk (New York city), x, 1893, pp. 189-199, 
373-380. Allen, Alleged Changes of Color in the Feathers of Birds 
without Molting ; Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, New York city, viii, 1896, pp. 13-44. Chadbourne, Individual 
Dichromatism in the Screech Owl ; The Auk, xiii, 1896, pp. 321-325, 
and xiv, 1897, pp. 33-39, one plate. 

f The term color, as here used, means practically the plumage or 
dress of birds. 

35 



36 COLOR AND AGE. 

Color and Age. — All birds have a special nestling 
plumage. With those that run or swim at birth, such 
as Grouse, Snipe, and Ducks, this is a full suit of down, 
which may be worn for several weeks. With those 
birds which are helpless when hatched — for instance, 
Robins, Sparrows, and Orioles — this downy covering is 
so scanty that they are practically naked. This birth 
dress is followed by a new growth, known as the " first 
plumage." Down-covered birds do not acquire this for 
some time, but with those birds that are born nearly 
naked it begins to grow soon after they are hatched, and 
is almost complete when they leave the nest. The first 
plumage is often unlike that of either parent ; for ex- 
ample, the spotted plumage of" the Robin. It is worn for 
several months by some species — certain Snipe and others 
— but with most land birds it is soon exchanged for the 
costume they will wear through the winter, usually 
termed the "immature plumage." This may resemble 
that of either parent respectively — that is, immature 
males may be like adult males and immature females like 
adult females, as with the Bob -white and Cardinal Gros- 
beak ; or the immature birds of both sexes may resemble 
the adult female, as with the Hummingbird and Bobolink. 
Again, the immature birds of both sexes may be unlike 
either of the adults, as with the Eagle and most Hawks ; 
or the immature female may resemble the adult female, 
while the immature male is unlike either parent, as in the 
case of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Scarlet Tanager. 
When both parents are alike, the young generally resem- 
ble them, and this happens among most of our land birds ; 
for example, the Flycatchers, Crows and Jays, many 
Sparrows, Vireos, Wrens, and Thrushes. 

Immature birds, differing from the adults, may ac- 
quire the adult plumage the next spring, as with the 
Bobolink, or they may then don a second or transition 



COLOR AND SEASON. 37 

plumage, and not assume the dress of maturity until the 
second or even the third spring, which is the case with 
the Orchard Oriole. 

Color and Season. — Quite apart from the changes in 
color due to age, a bird may throughout its life change 
costumes with the seasons. Thus, the male Bobolink 
after the nesting season, exchanges his black, white, and 
buff nuptial suit for a sparrowlike dress resembling that 
of his mate. The Scarlet Tanager sheds his gay body 
plumage and puts on the olive-green colors of the fe- 
male, without changing, however, the color of his black 
wings and tail. The following spring both birds resume 
the more conspicuous coats. A more or less similar 
change takes place among many birds in which the male 
is brighter than the female, but, among land birds, when 
the adults of both sexes are alike, there is little or no 
seasonal change in color. 

The Molt* — These changes in plumage, as far as they 
are understood, are accomplished by the molt, frequently 
followed by a wearing off of the differently colored ter- 
minal fringe which is found on the new feathers of some 
birds. It has been stated that birds change color without 
changing their plumage, either by a chemical alteration 
in the pigment of the feathers resulting in a new color, 
or by the actual gain of new pigment from the body ; but 
I know of no instance in which this has been proved, nor 
do I believe that the latter change is possible. The whole 
subject offers an excellent field for observation and ex- 
periment. 

There is a great and as yet but little understood 
variation in the molting of birds. Not only may closely 

* See Stone, The Molting of Birds, with Special Reference to the 
Plumages of the Smaller Land Birds of Eastern North America, Pro- 
ceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science, 1896, pp. 
108-167, two plates. 



38 



THE MOLT. 



related species molt differently, but the manner and time 
of molting among individuals of the same species may 
vary according to their sex, age, and physical condition. 

At the close of the nesting season all birds renew 
their entire plumage by molting. The following spring, 
before the nesting season, most birds molt their body 
feathers, retaining those of the wing and tail. A few, 
however, like the Bobolink, have a complete molt at 
this season also. Others molt only a few of the body 
feathers, while some birds are adorned at this season 
with special nuptial plumes. 

The beautiful aigrette plumes of the Heron consti- 
tute a nuptial dress of this kind. It is for these plumes 
that the birds have been slaughtered in such enormous 
numbers that if the demand continues they will speedily 
become extinct. 

Some birds, whose fall plumage is edged with a dif- 
ferently colored tip to each feather, do not molt in the 
spring, but acquire their wedding dress by the slow wear- 
ing off of the fringes to the feathers which have dis- 




October. 



January. 



March. 



June. 



Fig. 23. — Feathers from back of Snowfiake, showing 1 seasonal changes in form 
and color due to wearing off of tips. (Natural size.) 

guised them during the winter. The Snowilake, for 
instance, changes from brown and brownish white to 
pure black and white by losing the brown tips which 
have concealed the black or white bases of his feathers. 




Plate XI. Pages 96, 99. 

SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 

Length, 7-50 inches. Adult, upper parts brownish gray and black; under 

parts white spotted with black ; a white patch in wing. Young, similar, but 

without black. 

KILLDEER. 
Length, 10-50 inches. Upper parts brownish gray, upper tail-coverts rusty; 
under parts white ; two bands on breast, crown and lores black, forehead 
and nape white. 



COLOR AND FOOD. ' 39 

Much remains to be learned on this subject of the 
molt, and, although confinement is known to affect its 
manner and extent, I believe intelligent observation of 
caged birds will lead to really valuable results. 

Color and Food. — In some instances it is known that 
a bird's color is affected by the nature of its food. It is 
a common practice among bird fanciers to alter the color 
of Canaries from yellow to orange-red by feeding them 
on red pepper. This food, however, is said to have no 
effect upon adult birds, but must be fed to nestlings. Sau- 
ermann's experiments, as quoted by Beddard, show that 
the red color is not caused by the capsicin or red pig- 
ment in the pepper, but by a fatty substance termed 
triolein. Fed to white fowls, their breasts became red, 
while the rest of the plumage remained unchanged. It 
is also stated that dealers alter the color of green Parrots 
to yellow by feeding them on the fat of certain fishes. 

Flamingoes and Scarlet Ibises when kept in captivity 
lose their bright red colors and become dingy pink or 
even soiled white, and some animal dealers have acquired 
a reputation for restoring their natural tints by supplying 
them with food the nature of which is kept a secret. 

Our Purple Finch turns to yellow in captivity. An 
adult male now in my possession is undergoing his second 
molt since capture a year ago, and it will evidently leave 
him without a single red feather. Other wild birds 
when caged are known to assume more or less abnormal 
plumages, due, it is supposed, to change in food. There 
is, however, very little exact information on this subject, 
and it offers an excellent opportunity for the patient in- 
vestigator. 

Color and Climate* — Color is a much more variable 
character than form. There are but few instances in 

* Read Allen, Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cam- 
bridge, Mass.), vol. ii, No. 3, 1871, pp. 186-250. 



40 COLOR AND CLIMATE. 

which we can show the cause of a given structure ; but 
color responds more quickly to the influence of sur- 
roundings, and in many cases we can point to cause and 
effect with some certainty. 

This is best illustrated by the relation between climate 
and color. Briefly, it has been found that birds are 
darkest in humid regions and palest in arid regions. 

This at first thought seems of small moment, but in 
reality it is one of the most important facts established 
by ornithologists. It is an undeniable demonstration of 
" evolution by environment " — that is, the bird's color is 
in part due to the conditions under which it lives. 

For example, our common Song Sparrow, which in- 
habits the greater part of North America, varies so 
greatly in color in different parts of its range that no 
less than eleven subspecies or geographical races are 
known to ornithologists. The extremes are found in the 
arid deserts of Arizona, where the annual rainfall aver- 
ages eight inches, and on the humid Pacific coast from 
Washington to Alaska, where the annual rainfall averages 
about eighty inches. 

The Arizona Song Sparrows are pale, sandy colored 
birds, while those from Alaska are dark, sooty brown. 
One would imagine them to be different species ; but 
unlike as are these extremes, they, with the other nine 
races in this group, are found to intergrade in those re- 
gions where the climatic conditions themselves undergo 
a change. That is, as we pass from an arid into a humid 
region, the birds gradually get darker as the average 
rainfall increases. 

If now we study other birds living in these .regions, 
we find that many of them, especially the resident species, 
are similarly affected by the prevailing climatic influ- 
ences — that is, many Arizona birds are bleached and 
faded in appearance, while all the thirty odd Northwest 



COLOR AND HAUNT AND HABIT. ' 41 

Pacific coast races are darker or more heavily streaked 
or barred than any of their congeners. It is of impor- 
tance to observe that these differences are shown by 
young birds in fresh plumage — evidence that the charac- 
ters acquired through climate have been inherited. 

There are many similar cases, but some species seem 
more easily affected than others, and throughout their 
ranges are markedly affected by the conditions under 
which they live. Thus we have nine races of Screech 
Owl, eleven of Horned Lark, six of Junco, etc. 

These races, or subspecies, are species in process of 
formation. The extremes are still connected by inter- 
mediate or natural links, but if, through any cause, these 
intermediates should disappear, the extremes would then 
be left as distinct species. 

Color and Haunt and Habit. — The relation of a 
bird's color to its haunts and habits is a complex sub- 
ject. Any attempt at its explanation should be based on 
so exact a knowledge of the facts in the case, that I can not 
too strongly emphasize here the necessity for observations 
in the field. Only a close study of the living bird will 
justify us in advancing theories to account for its coloration. 

Many explanations have been offered to account for 
certain colors and markings of birds, but often, I fear, 
without adequate knowledge of the bird's habits. I 
shall speak of only four classes of colors ; they are 
protective, deceptive, recognition, and sexual colors. 

Protective colors render a bird inconspicuous in order 
that it may escape its enemies. Deceptive colors render 
it inconspicuous in order that it may more easily approach 
its prey. In both cases the bird should harmonize in 
color with its immediate surroundings. 

A survey of the birds of the world shows that on the 
whole this is true. Thus almost all ground-inhabiting 
birds, such as Snipe, Plover, Quail, Grouse, Sparrows, 



42 PROTECTIVE COLORATION". 

are generally dull brown or gray, like the ground, leaves, 
or grasses about them, while tree -haunting birds, espe- 
cially those that live in the foliage or feed from blossoms, 
are, as a rule, brightly colored. In this class belong 
Hummingbirds, Orioles, the gayer - plumaged Finches, 
Tanagers, Warblers, and many others. It is partly 
owing to this fact that the erroneous idea concerning 
the brilliant plumage of all tropical birds has become 
established. The rich vegetation of the tropics furnishes 
a home to a far greater number of brightly colored birds 
than are found in temperate regions ; still, they are not 
more numerous than the dull-colored species that live on 
the tree trunks, in the undergrowth, or on the ground, 
where, owing to the nature of both their colors and 
haunts, they are likely to be overlooked. 

Between these two extremes there are numerous in- 
termediate groups, most of which conform to the general 
law of protective coloration. There are, it is true, excep- 
tions, but every close student of bird-life must be so im- 
pressed with the dangers to which birds are exposed, that 
he can not doubt that the chief object of color is usually 
for its wearer's concealment. 

The term " protective coloration " has lately received 
fresh significance through the studies of Mr. Abbott H. 
Thayer.* Mr. Thayer proves conclusively that protect- 
ive coloration lies not so much in an animal's resem- 
blance in color to its surroundings as in its gradation of 
color. Thus he points to the fact that, as a rule, animals 
are darker above than below — that is, those parts receiv- 
ing the most light are darkest, while the parts receiving the 
least light are palest. In effect it follows that the darker 
upper parts are brightened, while the paler under parts are 

* See his papers *on The Law which Underlies Protective Colora- 
tion, in The Auk (New York city), vol. xiii, pp. 124-129, 318-320, eleven 
figures. 




Plate XII. Page 101. 

RUFFED GROUSE. 

Length, 17-00 inches. Male, neck tufts long, black; upper parts and tail 

gray or rusty, black and buff; under parts white, black and rusty. Female, 

similar, but with neck tufts no longer than adjoining feathers. 



PROTECTIVE COLORATION. 43 

darkened, the result being a uniform color, with an ap- 
parent absence of shadow, tending to render the object 
invisible. 

Mr. Thayer clearly demonstrates his discovery by 
using several decoys about the size and shape of a Wood- 
cock's body. These he places about six inches above the 
ground on wire uprights, or in a row on a horizontal rod. 
One of these decoys he colors uniformly, above and be- 
low, to resemble the earth about it, or he may even give 
it a fine coating of the earth itself. The upper half of 
the other decoys is treated in exactly the same manner, 
but their lower half is graded to a pure white on the me- 
dian line below. At a distance of forty or fifty yards 
the uniformly colored decoy can be plainly seen, but 
those which are white below are entirely invisible until 
one is within twenty or thirty feet of them. 

After definitely locating these graded decoys the ex- 
periment may be repeated ; but the result will always be 
the same. As one slowly retreats from them they will, as 
by magic, seem to pass out of existence, while the one which 
is colored alike both above and below can be seen distinctly. 

One of the best arguments for the value of a protect- 
ive coloration is the fact that the birds themselves are 
such thorough believers in it. Here we have the reason 
why— in sportsman's parlance — game birds "lie to a dog." 
When there is sufficient cover, they trust to their protect- 
ive coloring to escape detection, and take wing only as 
a last resort ; but when cover is scanty, they generally 
rise far out of gunshot. Some Snipe and Sparrows, 
however, attempt to conceal themselves even on bare 
sand or worn grass by squatting close to the earth, with 
which their plumage harmonizes in color. 

A sitting Woodcock had such confidence in its own 
invisibility that it permitted itself to be stroked without 
leaving the nest; but when a light snow fell, and the 



44 DECEPTIVE COLORATION. 

bird became a conspicuous dark object against a white 
background, it took wing on the first suspicion of danger. 

I could mention many other similar instances, but the 
careful observer will soon find them included in his own 
experience. 

Deceptive, or, as Poulton terms it, " aggressive " col- 
oration is perhaps best illustrated by common Flycatchers 
{Tyrannidaz). Although these birds live in and about 
trees, they are, as a rule, quietly attired in olive-green or 
olive-gray, and are quite unlike the brilliantly clad, //Tr- 
eating Tanagers, Orioles, Parrots, and other birds that 
may be found near them. Insects are therefore more 
likely to come within snapping distance than if these 
birds were conspicuously colored. In the same manner 
we may explain the colors of Hawks, which are never 
brightly plumaged. 

It is well known that many arctic animals become 
white on the approach of winter. With Ptarmigans 
this is doubtless an instance of protective coloration, but 
the Snowy Owl, who feeds on the Ptarmigan, may be 
said to illustrate deceptive coloration. 

Recognition, signaling, or directive colors have, with 
more or less reason, been made to include many different 
types of markings, of which I shall mention only those 
that are conspicuously shown in flight or by some move- 
ment. Such are the white outer tail-feathers of Juncos, 
Meadowlarks, Towhees, and many other birds, and cer- 
tain wing and rump patches, which are noticeable only 
when the bird is on the wing. Markings of this kind are 
supposed to aid birds in recognizing others of their kind, 
their special use being to keep the individuals of a family 
or flock together, so that when one starts the others can 
readily follow. The theory is open to objections, but 
these so-called recognition marks are so often found among 
birds that they doubtless are of some use, though their 



COLOR AND SEX. 



45 



exact value remains to be determined by closer obser- 
vation. 

Color and Sex* — It is not possible here to discnss at 
length the vexed question of sexual coloration. But, as a 
means of directing observation, I present a synopsis of 
the principal types of secondary sexual characters, with 
some of the theories which have been advanced to ac- 
count for them. 

SYNOPSIS OF THE SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS 
OF BIRDS. 



Size. 



Plumage. -{ 



Of the body 



Of the feet. 
Of the bill. 



I. STRUCTURAL. 

Male larger than female (usual). 
Female larger than male (rare), 
f p i or j Male brighter than female. 

' I Female brighter than male (rare). 

f Assumption of plumes, ruffs, crests, trains, 
etc. : special modification of wing and tail 
Form. \ feathers. 

j a. Worn by male alone. 
[_ b. Worn by both sexes. 
Sole or greater development in male of brightly col- 
ored bare tracts of skin, combs, wattles, caruncles, 
and other fleshy or horny appendages. 
Sole or greater development in male of spurs. 
Male with more highly colored or larger bill than 
female. 



Pursuit. 

Display. 
Battle. 

Music. 



Special 
habits. 



II. FUNCTIONAL. 

By male when similar to or brighter than female. 

By female when brighter than male.- 

By male of accessory plumes and other appendages. 

By male using spurs, wings, bill, etc. 

Vocal, by male and, rarely, female. 

Mechanical, by male and sometimes female. 

Dances, mock fights, aerial evolutions, construction of 

bowers, decoration of playgrounds, attitudinizing, 

strutting, etc. 
a. By male before the female. 
[_ b. Among the males alone. 



* Read Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to 
Sex (D. Appleton & Co.). Wallace, Darwinism (Macmiilan Co.). 



46 COLOR AND SEX. 

In explanation of these remarkable differences of form 
and habit, we have first Darwin's theory of " sexual se- 
lection." This is based upon the ardor in love, the cour- 
age and rivalry of the males, and also upon the powers 
of perception, taste, and will of the female. 

The spurs of the male, for example, are supposed 
to have been developed through the battles of the males. 
At first a mere knob, they were an advantage to the bird 
possessing them, enabling him to defeat his rivals. The 
successful male would be more likely to have offspring 
who would inherit the tendency of their father to have 
spurs, and thus, by selection, the unspurred cocks would 
gradually be replaced by those better armed. This is 
known as the " law of battle." 

But the bright colors and gay plumes of the cock 
have originated, under this theory, through the taste of 
the female, who, it is assumed, would be more likely to 
accept the attentions of a bird pleasing in her eye than 
one who was less strikingly adorned. This has been 
termed by Lloyd Morgan " preferential mating." 

Wallace has accepted the law of battle as an effective 
agent in producing certain characters, but considers it 
natural, rather than sexual selection, and he denies the 
existence of any important evidence proving female selec- 
tion. He therefore attributes many secondary sexual 
characters to a surplus of vital energy, which, because of 
a bird's perfect adaptation to the conditions of its exist- 
ence, can expend itself in the production of bright colors 
and ornamental plumes without injury to their owners. 
That is to say, Wallace ascribes to the action of natural 
selection any secondary sexual character which is of prac- 
tical use to the male in conflicts with a rival, but denies 
the female any part in the matter of pairing. Darwin, 
as I have said, attributes to the female an aesthetic 
taste which renders the brilliant colors or display of the 




Plate XIII. Page 102. 

MOURNING DOVE. 

Length, 11-75 inches. Upper parts olive grayish brown, sides and back of 

neck iridescent ; breast with a pinkish tinge, belly buff ; outer tail-feathers 

tipped with white. 



COLOR AND SEX. 47 

male an attractive sight, influencing her choice of a 
mate. 

There is thus a practical agreement in the views of 
these naturalists on the origin of those sexual characters 
which may be classed as weapons, and this opinion is, I 
believe, generally accepted. But the question of female 
preference, and its influence on the development of bright 
colors and accessory plumes, still lacks confirmation. 
Here is an opportunity for every one who can watch wild 
birds mating. 



50 TIMES OF MIGRATION.. 

^'shouldered and Hed-tailed Hawks, Barred and Screech 
Owls, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Blue Jay, Crow, 
Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, White-breasted Nuthatch, and 
Chickadee. 

Generally speaking, the birds in the front rank of 
the feathered army which soon will invade the land are 
those whose winter quarters are farthest north, while 
those that winter farthest south bring up the rear. 

From February 20 to March 10, therefore, we may 
expect to see Purple Grackles, Robins, Bluebirds, and 
Red-winged Blackbirds ; birds that have wintered but a 
short distance south of us — if not with us — and who 
have accepted the slightest encouragement from the 
weather as an order to advance. All the first comers 
will doubtless be males, this sex, as a rule, preceding the 
females by several days. 

About the middle of March we may look for the 
Woodcock, Meadowlark, Fox Sparrow, Cowbird, and 
Phoebe ; their time of arrival being largely dependent 
upon the temperature — warm weather hastening, and 
cold weather retarding their movements. 

Toward the last of March, Wilson's Snipe, the King- 
fisher, Mourning Dove, Swamp and Field Sparrows are 
due. 

Early in April the Purple Finch, White-throated, 
Vesper, and Chipping Sparrows will announce their re- 
turn in familiar notes, and at the same time Tree Swal- 
lows, Myrtle Warblers, Pipits, and Hermit Thrushes will 
appear. They will soon be followed by Barn Swallows 
and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. 

The migration is now well under way, and. we go 
to the field with the assurance of meeting some lately 
arrived feathered friend almost daily. Between April 
20 and 30 we will doubtless note among the newcomers, 
the Green Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, Whip-poor-will, 




Plate XIV. Page 104. 

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 

Length, 19-00 inches. Adult, upper parts blackish brown and rusty ; lesser 
wing-coverts bright chestnut ; wings and tail black and white ; under parts 
rich rusty and white. Young, less rusty on back, wings and tail largely 
rusty; under parts white, spotted or streaked with blackish. 



TIMES OF MIGRATION". 51 

Chimney Swift, Least Flycatcher, Towhee, Purple Mar- 
tin, Cliff and Bank Swallows, Black and White and 
Black-throated Green Warblers, Oven-bird, House Wren, 
Brown Thrasher, Catbird, and Wood Thrush. This 
troop surely is not without musicians. In ringing 
tones they herald the victory of Spring over Winter. 

The season of cold waves has passed, and the birds 
now appear with the regularity of calendar events. 
From May 1 to 12 the migration reaches its height. 
It is a time of intense interest to the bird student, and 
happy is he who can spend unlimited time afield. 
Some mornings we may find ten or more different spe- 
cies that have come back to us, and each one may 
be represented by many individuals. The woods are 
thronged with migrants, and the scantily leaved trees 
and bushes enable us to observe them far more easily 
than we can when they travel southward in the fall. 
During this exciting period we should see the Cuckoos, 
Mghthawk, Ruby -throated Hummingbird, Crested Fly- 
catcher, Kingbird, Wood Pewee, Baltimore and Orchard 
Orioles, Bobolink, Indigo Bunting, Pose-breasted Gros- 
beak, Scarlet Tanager, Ped-eyed, Warbling, Yellow- 
throated, and White-eyed Vireos, Long-billed Marsh 
Wren, Wilson's Thrush, Pedstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, 
Maryland Yellow-throat, Yellow Warbler, and others of 
its family. 

Succeeding days will bring additions to the ranks of 
these species, and there will also be numerous small 
Warblers to look for, but by May 12 all our more 
familiar and common birds have arrived. During the 
rest of the month, as the transient visitants, or species 
which nest farther north, pass onward, birds gradually 
decrease in numbers, and by June 5 we have left only 
those that will spend the summer with us. 

The migration over, we can now give our whole 



52 TIMES OF MIGRATION. 

attention to a study of nesting habits. As a matter of 
fact, the nesting season begins quite as early as the 
spring migration, the Great Horned Owl laying its eggs 
late in February. In March and April other birds of 
prey and the earlier migrants nest. May migrants go 
to housekeeping soon after they reach their old homes, 
and by June 5 there are few species that have not 
nests. 

With birds that rear two or three broods, the nest- 
ing season may extend into August. With those that 
have but one brood it may be over early in July. At 
this time we begin to miss the jolly, rollicking music 
of the Bobolink. Soon he will leave the meadow he has 
animated for two months, and with his young join grow- 
ing flocks of his kind in the wild-rice marshes. His 
handsome suit of black and white and buff will be ex- 
changed for the sparrowlike Reedbird dress, and in place 
of the merry song he will utter only a metallic tinh. This 
note is characteristic of the season. Day and night we 
hear it from birds high in the air as they hasten to their 
rendezvous in the marshes. 

July 1, Tree Swallows, who nest rarely if at all near 
New York city, appear and establish their headquarters 
in the Hackensack meadows — a first step on the migra- 
tory journey. July is a month for wanderers. The nest- 
ing season of most one-brooded birds is over ; they are 
not yet ready to migrate, and pass the time roving about 
the country with their families. 

In August birds are molting and moping. The 
careful observer will find that a few Warblers and Fly- 
catchers have returned from the north and are passing 
southward, but, as a rule, August is a month to test 
the patience of the most enthusiastic bird student. Late 
in the month migrants become more numerous, but be- 
tween the " flights " or " waves " there are days when 




Plate XV. Page 106. 

MARSH HAWK. 
Length, 20-00 inches. Adult male, upper parts gray; under parts white with 
rusty spots ; upper tail-coverts white. Adult female and young, upper 
parts black and rich rusty ; under parts rich rusty and black ; upper tail- 
coverts white. 



TIMES OF MIGRATION. ' 53 

one may tramp the woods for miles without seeing a 
dozen birds. 

September is the month of Warblers. They come in 
myriads during the latter half of the month, and on 
favorable nights we may sometimes hear their fine -voiced 
tseeps as they fly by overhead. About the 25th of the 
month our winter residents, the Junco, Winter Wren, 
Golden Kinglet, and Brown Creeper, will arrive. 

The summer residents are now rapidly leaving us. 
In a general way it may be said that the last birds to 
arrive in the spring are the first to leave in the fall, 
while the earliest spring migrants remain the longest. 

October and November are the months of Sparrows. 
They rise in loose flocks from every stubble or weed 
field, and seek shelter in the bordering bushy growth. 
Should the season prove warm, many of these hardy 
seed-eaters will stay with us well into December, but at 
the first really cold weather they retreat southward. 

This completes the merest outline of the move- 
ments of our migratory birds. It will be seen that in 
reality there are but few periods during the year when 
some event is not occurring in the bird world. As we 
accumulate records for comparison, and learn to appre- 
ciate their meaning, our interest in the study of migra- 
tion will increase and be renewed with the changing 
seasons. 

We have found, in this brief review, that our birds 
may be placed in four classes, as follows : 

1. Permanent Residents. — Birds that are represented 
in the same locality throughout the year. 

2. Summer Residents. — Birds that come to us in the 
spring, rear their young, and depart in the fall. 

3. Winter Residents. — Birds that come from the north 
in the fall, pass the winter with us, and return to their 
more northern homes in the spring. 



54: MANNER OF MIGRATION. 

4. Transient Visitants. — Birds whose summer home 
is north and whose winter home is south of us. In 
traveling from one to the other they pass through the 
intervening region as " transients." 

Manner of Migration. — The Oriole, who builds his 
swinging nest in your elm tree, will winter in Central 
America ; the Bobolink, who seems so care-free in your 
meadows, must journey to his winter quarters in southern 
Brazil. But, unless accident befalls, both birds will re- 
turn to you the following spring. We are so accustomed 
to these phenomena that we accept them as part of the 
changing seasons without realizing how wonderful they 
are. But look for a moment at a map, and try to form 
a mental picture of the Bobolink's route. Over valleys, 
mountains, marshes, plains, and forests, over straits and 
seas hundreds of miles in width, he pursues a course 
through trackless space with a regularity and certainty 
which brings him to the same place at nearly the same 
time year after year. How much of his knowledge of 
the route he has inherited, and how much learned dur- 
ing his own lifetime, is a question we may return to 
later ; now we are concerned with actual methods of 
migration. 

Immediately after, or even during the nesting season, 
many birds begin to resort nightly to roosts frequented 
sometimes by immense numbers of their kinds, with 
often the addition of other species. These movements 
are apparently inaugurated by the old birds, and are in 
a sense the beginnings of the real migratory journey. 
Other birds roam the woods in loose bands or families, 
their wanderings being largely controlled by the supply 
of food. 

During this time they may be molting, but when 
their new plumage is acquired they are ready for the 
start. The old birds lead the way, either alone or asso- 





Plate XVL Page 106. 

SPARROW HATTK. 
Length, 11-00 inches. Male, "back reddish brown and black, wing-coverts 
slaty "blue, tail reddish "brown marked with "black and white ; under parts 
washed with rusty and spotted with black. Female, back, wings, and tail 
barred with reddish brown and black ; under parts white, streaked with red- 
dish brown. 



MANNER OF MIGRATION. - 55 

ciated with the young. Some fly by day, some by night, 
and others by both day and night. This fact was first 
established by Mr. William Brewster, who, in his admi- 
rable memoir on Bird Migration, writes : " Timid, seden- 
tary, or feeble-winged birds migrate by night, because 
they are either afraid to venture on long, exposed jour- 
neys by daylight, or unable to continue these journeys 
day after day without losing much time in stopping' to 
search for food. By taking the nights for traveling 
they can devote the days entirely to feeding and resting 
in their favorite haunts. Good examples are Thrushes 
(except the Robin), Wrens, Warblers, and Yireos. 

" Bold, restless, strong- winged birds migrate chiefly, 
or very freely, by day, because, being accustomed to seek 
their food in open situations, they are indifferent to con- 
cealment, and being further able to accomplish long dis- 
tances rapidly and with slight fatigue, they can ordi- 
narily spare sufficient time by the way for brief stops 
in places where food is abundant and easily obtained. 
Under certain conditions, however, as when crossing 
large bodies of water or regions 'scantily supplied with 
food, they are sometimes obliged to travel partly, or per- 
haps even exclusively, by night. Excellent examples are 
the Eobin (Merula), Horned Lark (Otocoris), and most 
Icteridoe [Bobolink, Blackbirds, and Orioles]. 

" Birds of easy, tireless wing, which habitually feed in 
the air or over very extensive areas, migrate exclusively 
by day, because, being able either to obtain their usual 
supply of food as they fly, or to accomplish the longest 
journeys so rapidly that they do not require to feed on 
the way, they are under no necessity of changing their 
usual habits. The best examples are Swallows, Swifts, 
and Hawks." 

While migrating, birds follow mountain chains, coast- 
lines, and particularly river valleys, all of which become 



56 MANNER OF MIGRATION. 

highways of migration. Through telescopic observations 
it has been learned that migrating birds travel at a great 
height. The exact height remains to be determined, but 
it is known that many migrants are at least a mile above 
the earth. From this elevation they command an ex- 
tended view, and in clear weather prominent features of 
the landscape are doubtless distinguishable to their pow- 
erful vision at a great distance. 

It is when fogs and storms obscure the view that birds 
lose their way. Then they fly much lower, perhaps seek- 
ing some landmark, and, should a lighthouse lie in their 
path, they are often attracted to it in countless numbers. 
Thousands of birds perish annually by striking these 
lights during stormy fall weather. In the spring the 
weather is more settled and fewer birds are killed. 

Although birds are guided mainly by sight, hearing is 
also of assistance to them on their migrations. Indeed, at 
night, young birds, who have never made the journey be- 
fore, must rely largely upon this sense to direct them. It 
is difficult for us to realize that on favorable nights during 
the migratory season myriads of birds are passing through 
the dark and apparently deserted air above us. Often 
they are so numerous as to form a continuous stream, and 
if we listen we may hear their voices as they call to one 
another while flying rapidly onward. 

Some idea may be formed of the multitude of birds 
which throng the upper air on favorable nights during 
their migration by using a telescope. One having a two- 
inch object glass will answer the purpose. It should be 
focused on the moon, when the birds in passing are sil- 
houetted against the glowing background. At the proper 
focal distance they appear with startling distinctness. In 
some cases each wing-beat can be detected, and with a 
large glass it is even possible to occasionally, recognize 
the kind of bird. 







Plate XVII. Page 107. 

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. 

Length of male, 11-25 inches; of female, 13-50 inches. Adult, upper parts 
slaty gray ; under parts white and rusty brown. Young, upper parts black- 
ish brown ; under parts white, streaked with rusty brown. 



MANNER OF MIGRATION. ' 57 

Observations of this kind should be made in Septem- 
ber, when the fall migration is at its height. On the 
night of September 3, 1887, at Tenafly, New Jersey, a 
friend and myself, using a six-and-a-half -inch equatorial 
glass, saw no less than two hundred and sixty-two birds 
cross the narrow angle subtended by the limbs of the 
moon between the hours of eight and eleven. Observa- 
tions made several years later, in September, from the 
observatory of Columbia University, yielded closely simi- 
lar results. 

This nocturnal journey of birds may also be studied 
from lighthouses. On September 26, 1891, I visited the 
Bartholdi Statue of the Goddess of Liberty, in New York 
Bay, for this purpose. The weather was most favorable. 
The first bird was observed at eight o'clock, and for 
the succeeding two hours others were constantly heard, 
though comparatively few were seen. At ten o'clock it 
began to rain ; and almost simultaneously there was a 
marked increase in the number of birds about the light, 
and within a few minutes there were hundreds where 
before there was one, while the air was filled with the 
calls of the passing host. 

From the balcony which encircles the torch the scene 
was impressive beyond description. We seemed to have 
torn aside the veil which shrouds the mysteries of the 
night, and with the searching light exposed the secrets 
of Nature. 

By far the larger number of birds hurried onward ; 
others hovered before us, like Hummingbirds before a 
flower, then flew swiftly by into the darkness ; and some, 
apparently blinded by the brilliant rays, struck the statue 
slightly, or with sufficient force to cause them to fall dead 
or dying. At daybreak a few stragglers were still wing- 
ing their way southward, but before the sun rose the 
flight was over. 
10 



58 ORIGIN OF MIGRATION. 

Origin of Migration. — Why do birds migrate ? It 
is true that in temperate and boreal regions the return 
of cold weather robs them of their food, and they retreat 
southward. But many, in fact most, birds begin their 
southern journey long before the first fall frost. We 
have seen that some species start as early as July and 
August. Furthermore, there are many birds that come 
to our Gulf and South Atlantic States to nest, and when 
the breeding season is over they return to the tropics. 
Surely, a lower temperature can not be said to compel 
them to migrate. Even more remarkable than the south- 
ward journey in the fall is the northward journey in the 
spring. Our birds leave their winter homes in the tropics 
in the height of the tropical spring, when insect and vege- 
table food is daily increasing. They leave this land of 
plenty for one from which the snows of winter have 
barely disappeared, often coming so early that unseason- 
able weather forces them to retreat. 

I believe that the origin of this great pilgrimage of 
countless millions of birds is to be found in the existence 
of an annual nesting season. In my opinion, it is exactly 
paralleled by the migration of shad, salmon, and other 
fishes to their spawning grounds, and the regular return 
of seals to their breeding rookeries. 

Most animals have an instinctive desire for seclusion 
during the period of reproduction, and when this season 
approaches will seek some retired part of their haunts or 
range in which to bring forth their young. Salmon may 
travel a thousand miles or more from the ocean, and, 
leaping the rapids or other barriers in their way, finally 
reach the headwaters of some river where their eggs 
may be deposited in safety. Seals migrate with regu- 
larity to certain islands, where their young are born. 
Even our domesticated Hens, Turkeys, Ducks, and Pea- 
fowl, if given freedom, will travel a greater or less dis- 




Plate XVIII. 

AMEKICAN OSPEEY. 

Length, 23-00 inches. Upper parts brownish black 
white ; breast marked with grayish brown. 



Page 107. 



nape and under parts 



ORIGIN OF MIGRATION. ' 59 

tance in search of a place where they may conceal their 
nests. ■ 

Many species of tropical sea birds resort each year to 
some rocky islet, situated perhaps in the heart of their 
range, where they may nest in safety. This is not migra- 
tion as we understand the word ; but, nevertheless, the 
object is the same as that which prompts a Plover to 
travel to the arctic regions ; moreover, the movement is 
just as regular. These sea birds pass their lives in the 
tropics, their presence or absence in any part of their 
range being largely dependent upon the supply of food. 
But, as in the case of the Warbler which migrates from 
South America to Labrador, they are annually affected 
by an impulse which urges them to hasten to a certain 
place. This impulse is periodic, and in a sense is com- 
mon to all birds. There is a regular nesting season in 
the tropics, just as there is a regular nesting season in the 
arctic regions. 

There is good reason, therefore, for the belief that 
the necessity of securing a home in which their young 
could be reared was, as it still is, the cause of migration. 
It must be remembered, however, that birds have been 
migrating for ages, and that the present conditions are 
the result of numerous and important climatic changes. 
Chief among these is doubtless the Glacial period. In- 
deed, Dr. Allen has stated, and the theory has been gen- 
erally accepted, that the migration of birds was the out- 
come of the Glacial period. That their journeys were 
greatly increased and the habit of migration extended 
during the ice age is apparently undeniable, but, although 
previous to the Glacial period a warm temperate climate 
prevailed nearly to the northern pole, there must even 
then have been sufficient difference between winter and 
summer climate to render a certain amount of migration 
necessary. Furthermore, there is a well-defined migra- 



60 ORIGIN OF MIGRATION. 

tion in the southern hemisphere, where no evidences of 
glaciation have as yet been discovered. 

As I have said, the existing conditions are the result 
of changes which have been active for ages. No species, 
therefore, has acquired its present summer range at one 
step, but by gradually adding new territory to its breed- 
ing ground. For example, certain of our Eastern birds 
are evidently derived through Mexico, and in returning 
to their winter quarters in Central America, they travel 
through Texas and Mexico and are unknown in Florida 
and the West Indies. Others have come to us through 
Florida, and in returning to their winter quarters do not 
pass through either Texas or Mexico. This is best illus- 
trated by the Bobolink, an Eastern bird which, breeding 
from New Jersey northward to Nova Scotia, has spread 
westward until it has reached Utah and northern Mon- 
tana. But — and here is the interesting point — these birds 
of the far West do not follow their neighbors and migrate 
southward through the Great Basin into Mexico, but, 
true to their inherited habit, retrace their steps, and leave 
the United States by the roundabout way of Florida, 
crossing thence to Cuba, Jamaica, and Yucatan, and win- 
tering south of the Amazon. The Bobolinks of Utah 
did not learn this route in one generation ; they inherited 
the experience of countless generations, slowly acquired 
as the species extended its range westward, and in return- 
ing across the continent they give us an excellent illustra- 
tion of the stability of routes of migration. 

They furnish, too, an instance of one of the most 
important factors in migration — that is, the certainty 
with which a bird returns to the region of its birth. 
This is further evidenced by certain sea birds which 
nest on isolated islets to which they regularly return 
each year. 

Of this wonderful " homing instinct," which plays so 




Plate XIX. Page 109. 

SHOKT-EAKED OWL. 
Length, 15-50 inches. Upper parts black, buff, and rusty; under parts white 
and brownish black ; eyes yellow. 



ORIGIN OF MIGRATION. ' 61 

vital a part in the migration of birds, I have no explana- 
tion to offer. We know, however, that it exists not only 
in birds but in many other animals. It is this instinct, 
aided by the "heredity of habit," which guides a bird 
to its nesting ground. The Carrier Pigeon is taught its 
lines of flight by gradually extending its jonmejs ; a 
species establishes its routes of migration by gradually 
extending its range. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE VOICE OF BIRDS * 

Aside from the pleasure to be derived from the calls 
and songs of birds, their notes are of interest to us as 
their medium of expression.. No one who has closely 
studied birds will doubt that they have a language, limited 
though its vocabulary may be. 

Song. — Song is a secondary sexual character, generally 
restricted to the male. With it he woos his mate and 
gives voice to the joyousness of nesting time. In some 
instances vocal music may be replaced by instrumental, 
as in the case of the drumming wing-beat of the Grouse, 
or the bill-tattoo of the Woodpeckers, both of which are 
analogous to song. 

The season of song corresponds more or less closely 
with the mating season, though some species begin to 
sing long before their courting days are near. Others 
may sing to some extent throughout the year, but the 
real song period is in the spring. 

Many birds have a second song period immediately 
after the completion of their postbreeding molt, but it 
usually lasts only for a few days, and is in no sense com- 
parable to the true season of song. This is heralded by 
the Song Sparrow, whose sweet chant, late in February, 

*See Witchell, The Evolution of Bird Song (Macmillan Co.). 
JBicknell, A Study of the Singing of Our Birds; The Auk (New York 
city), vol. i, 1884, pp. 60-71, 126-140, 209-218, 322-332; vol. ii, 1885, 
pp. 144-154, 249-262. 




Plate XX. Page 110. 

SCEEECH OWL. 

Length, 940 inches. Upper parts gray, or bright reddish brown, and 
black ; under parts white, gray, or bright reddish brown, and black ; eyes 
yellow. 



VOICE OF BIRDS. ' 63 

is a most welcome promise of spring. Then follow the 
Robins, Blackbirds, and other migrants, until, late in 
May, the great springtime chorus is at its height. 

The Bobolink is the first bird to desert the choir. 
We do not often hear him after July 5. Soon he is fol- 
lowed by the Yeery, and each day now shows some fresh 
vacancy in the ranks of the feathered singers, until by 
August 5 we have left only the Wood Pewee, Indigo 
Bunting, and Bed-eyed Yireo — tireless songsters who 
fear neither midsummer nor midday heat. 

Call-Notes. — The call-notes of birds are even more 
worthy of our attention than are their songs. Song is 
the outburst of a special emotion ; call-notes form the 
language of every day. Many of us are familiar with 
birds' songs, but who knows their every call-note and 
who can tell us what each call means ? For they have a 
meaning that close observation often makes intelligible. 

Listen to the calls of the Bobin and learn how unmis- 
takably he expresses suspicion, alarm, or extreme fear ; 
how he signals cheerfully to his companions or gives the 
word to take wing. Study the calls of the Crow or Blue 
Jay, and you will find that they have an apparently ex- 
haustless vocabulary. 

It is supposed that birds, like men, do not inherit 
their language, but acquire it. Thus there are recorded 
instances of young birds who had been isolated from 
others of their kind, learning to sing whatever song they 
heard. On the other hand, it is said that a bird inherits 
its own notes, at least to some extent, and, while it may 
not sing the song of its species perfectly, its song will 
still be sufficiently characteristic to be recognizable. 
There are, however, very few satisfactory observations 
on this subject, and keepers of cage-birds have here an 
excellent opportunity for original investigation. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

THE NESTING SEASON.* 

If you would really know birds, you must study them 
during nesting time. At this season they develop habits 
that you will be surprised to learn they possess. The 
humble owner of some insignificant call-note now fills the 
role of a skilled musician. The graceful, leisurely Marsh 
Hawk gives vent to his feelings in a series of aerial som- 
ersaults over the meadows ; the sedate, dignified Wood- 
cock tries to express his emotions by means of spiral evo- 
lutions which carry him far above his usual haunts ; the 
Night-Hawk dives earthward with needless recklessness ; 
in fact, birds seem inspired by the joy of the season, and 
all the brightness of a May morning is reflected in their 
voices and actions. 

Mating over, there follow the marvels of nest-build- 
ing with its combined evidences of instinct and intelli- 
gence. In due time the young appear, and the bird, now 
a parent, abandons the gay habits of the suitor, and de- 
votes every waking moment to the care of its young. 

Time of Westing. — With most birds the nesting season 
is periodic and annual. With migratory birds it coin- 
cides with the season of the year when their summer 
homes are habitable. But we might suppose that the 

* Read In Nesting Time, Little Brothers of the Air, and other 
works by Olive Thorne Miller. A-Birding on a Broncho, by Florence 
A. Merriam (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.). 

64 




Plate XXI. Page 111. 

BAPKED OWL. 

Length, 20-00 inches. Upper parts blackish brown and white; under 
parts white and blackish brown ; eyes black. 



MATING. 65 

permanent residents of the tropics, where seasonal changes 
are less marked, could nest at- any time. Nevertheless, 
the breeding season in the tropics is as well defined as it 
is in more northern regions, and occurs with the return 
of summer, or the season of rains. It is therefore at a 
time of the year when food is most abundant. 

There is an obvious necessity for this regularity. Old 
birds can wander over large areas in search of food, but 
the young of many species must be fed in the nest, and 
their food supply should be both exhaustless and con- 
venient of access. 

Among our birds, the Hawks and Owls, whose young 
are fed on animal food, are the first birds to nest, while 
those which feed their young on fruit or insects wait 
until later in the year. 

Mating. — Birds are ardent lovers. In their effort to 
win a bride the males display their charms of song and 
plumage to the utmost, and will even enter the lists to 
do battle for the possession of a mate. 

It is not possible to describe here the many pecul- 
iar customs of birds during the season of courtship. 
It may simply be said that every bird will then re- 
pay the closest observation. For the scientific-minded 
there is opportunity to secure evidence bearing upon 
the theory of Natural Selection ; for every one there is 
endless entertainment in the human traits which birds 
exhibit. 

The Nest. — The first step in nest-building is the selec- 
tion of a site. There is almost no suitable location, from 
a hole in the ground to branches in the tree-tops, in which 
birds may not place their nests. Protection seems to be 
the chief desideratum, and this is generally secured 
through concealment. Most birds hide their nests. 
Many sea birds, however, lay their eggs on the shores 

or cliffs, with no attempt at concealment ; but, as a rule, 
11 



66 BIRDS' NESTS. 

birds that nest in this manner resort to uninhabited 
islets and secure protection through isolation. 

Some birds nest alone, and jealously guard the vicin- 
ity of their home from the approach of other birds, 
generally of the same species. Others nest in colonies 
brought together by temperament or community of 
interests, and dwell on terms of the closest sociability. 

The material used by birds in building their nests 
is as varied as the nature of the sites they select. The 
vegetable kingdom contributes much the largest share. 
Grasses, twigs, and rootlets are the standard materials ; 
but plant-down, plant-fibers, bark, leaves, lichens, clay, 
spiders' webs, hair, fur, and feathers are also used, while 
in some cases a gummy secretion of the salivary glands 
furnishes a kind of glue. 

Birds have been classified, according to the manner 
in which they employ these articles, as weavers, tailors, 
masons, molders, carpenters, felters, etc. 

Sometimes both sexes assist in the construction of the 
nest, or one bird collects the material while the other 
adjusts it. Again, the female performs the task alone, 
aided only by the encouraging voice of the male. 

The time of construction varies from one to two 
weeks to as long as three months in the case of the South 
American Ovenbird, who in June begins to build the 
nest it will not occupy until October. The Fish Hawk 
evidently believes in the value of a stick in time, and 
often repairs its nest in the fall. 

Lack of space prohibits a discussion of the influences 
which assist in determining the character of birds' nests. 
They may be summarized as follows : 

First, necessity for protection. 

Second, conditions imposed by locality. These affect 
both the site and material, as illustrated by Doves, who 
nest in trees in wooded countries and on the ground in 







Plate XXII. Page 112. 

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 

Length, 12-25 inches. Upper parts glossy olive-brown; outer tail- 
feathers black, tipped with white ; under parts white; lower mandible 
yellow. 



BIRDS' NESTS. . 67 

treeless regions, and by birds who substitute strings, 
cotton, or rags for their usual nesting materials. 

Third, condition of the young at birth, whether 
feathered or naked. The young of what are termed 
<: prsecocial " birds are hatched with a covering of 
downy feathers. Gulls, Ducks, Snipe, Chickens, Par- 
tridges, and Quails are familiar members of this group. 
Their young can run about soon after birth, and a well- 
formed nest is not needed. But the young of " altricial " 
birds are hatched practically naked and are reared in the 
nest, which is therefore not only a receptacle for the eggs 
during incubation, but a home. Thrushes, Sparrows, in 
fact all Perching Birds, Woodpeckers, Hummingbirds, 
and many others belong in this group of altricial birds. 

Fourth, temperament, whether solitary or social. 
Hawks, fierce and gloomy, nest alone, while the cheery, 
happy Swallows nest in colonies. 

Fifth, structure of the bird. The tools — that is, the 
bills and feet — of some birds are more serviceable than 
those of others. We should not expect a Dove to build 
the woven nest of an Oriole, nor a Hummingbird to 
fashion a Woodpecker's dwelling. 

Sixth, feeding habit. In some few cases feeding 
habit may determine the character of the nest. For 
instance, Woodpeckers, in securing their food from trees, 
often make large excavations, which it is quite natural 
they should have learned to use as nests. 

Seventh, inherited habit, or instinct. There seems no 
reason to doubt that birds inherit their knowledge of nest- 
building, for in several cases where birds have been taken 
from the nest and reared alone, they have afterward 
constructed a nest resembling that of their species. It 
would therefore appear that inherited habit is a fact. 
Through it we may explain not only the similarity in the 
nests of the same species, but also certain habits for 



68 BIRDS' EGGS. 

which we can give no satisfactory reason. Thus the 
Crested Flycatcher's strange custom of using a cast 
snake-skin in its nesting materials probably originated 
with the birds in the tropics, where it is still followed 
by nearly related species of Crested Flycatchers. With 
them there may be a reason for this habit, but with our 
bird, living as it does under entirely different conditions, 
it is doubtless only an inheritance, surviving even when 
the necessity for it has ceased to exist. 

Eighth, change of habit. Some birds are influenced 
by changes in their surroundings, and alter their nesting 
habits when it proves to their advantage to do so. 
Chimney Swifts, who have exchanged hollow trees, in 
which they were exposed to their natural enemies, for 
the comparative safety of chimneys, are good examples. 
But a far better one is given by that prodigy in feathers, 
the House Sparrow. Is there any available site in which 
this thoroughly up-to-date bird will not place its nest ? 
It has taken possession of even the hollow spaces about 
certain kinds of electric lamps, and has been observed 
repairing its nest at night by their light ! 

The Eggs. — Usually, little time is lost between the 
completion of the nest and the laying of the eggs. The 
number of eggs composing what oologists term a full 
set or clutch ranges from one to as many as twenty. At 
the time of laying, the ovary contains a large number of 
partly formed eggs, of which, normally, only the required 
number will become fully developed. But if the nest be 
robbed, the stolen egg will frequently be replaced. The 
long-continued laying of our domestic fowls is an instance 
of this unnatural stimulation of the ovary. Doubtless the 
most remarkable recorded case of egg-laying by a wild 
bird is that of a High-hole or Flicker, who, on being regu- 
larly robbed, laid seventy-one eggs in seventy -three days ! 

The eggshell is composed largely of carbonate of lime, 




Plate XXIII. Page 114. 

BELTED KINGFISHEK. 

Length, 13 -00 inches. Male, upper parts bluish gray ; under parts white, 
a bluish-gray breast-band and sides. Female, similar, but breast and 
sides with reddish brown. 



BIRDS' EGGS. 69 

which is deposited in layers. The final layer varies greatly 
in appearance, and may be a rough, chalky deposit, as in 
Cormorants and others, or thin and highly polished, as in 
Woodpeckers. 

The colors of eggs are due to pigments, resembling 
bile pigments, deposited by ducts while the egg is in the 
oviduct. One or more of the layers of shell may be pig- 
mented, and variations in the tints of the same pigment 
may be caused by an added layer of carbonate of lime, 
producing the so-called " clouded " or " shell markings." 

While the eggs of the same species more or less 
closely resemble one another, there is often so great a 
range of variation in color that, unless seen with the 




Fig. 24. — Egg of (a) Spotted Sandpiper, (b) Catbird, to show difference in 
* size of eggs of prascocial and altricial birds of same size. (Natural size.) 

parent, it is frequently impossible to identify eggs with 
certainty. The eggs of prsecocial birds, whose young are 
born with a covering of down and can run or swim at 
birth, are, as a rule, proportionately larger than the eggs 
of altricial birds, whose young are born in a much less 
advanced condition. This is illustrated by the accom- 
panying figure of the eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper and 
the Catbird. 

The period of incubation is apparently closely depend- 
ent upon the size of the egg, and varies from ten days 
in the Hummingbird to forty odd in the Ostrich and, it 
is said, some fifty in the Emu. 



70 YOUNG BIRDS. 

Among some species both sexes share equally the task 
of incubation. In others, the female is longer on the 
nest, the male taking her place during a short period each 
day while she is feeding. Less frequently the female is 
not at all assisted by her mate, and in some cases — Os- 
triches, Emus, Phalaropes, and a few others — the male 
alone incubates. 

The Young. — The care of the young and their men- 
tal and physical development afford us unequaled oppor- 
tunities for the study of bird character. We may now 
become acquainted not only with the species but with 
individual birds, and at a time when the greatest demands 
are made upon their intelligence. 

We may see the seed-eaters gathering insects and per- 
haps beating them into a pulp before giving them to their 
nestlings : or we may learn how the Doves, High-holes, 
and Hummingbirds pump softened food from their crops 
down the throats of their offspring. 

The activity of the parents at this season is amazing. 
Think of the day's work before a pair of Chickadees with 
a family of six or eight fledglings clamoring for food 
from daylight to dark ! 

But the young birds themselves furnish far more in- 
teresting and valuable subjects for study. None of the 
higher animals can be reared so easily without the aid of 
a parent. We therefore can not only study their growth 
of body and mind when in the nest and attended by 
their parents, but we can isolate the young of prsecocial 
birds, such as Chickens, from other birds and study their 
mental development where they have no opportunity to 
learn by imitation. In this way students of instinct and 
heredity have obtained most valuable results.* 

* Read Lloyd Morgan's Habit and Instinct (Edward Arnold, New 
York city). 




ist v$*k. % e^ovt**Xv. v>v » 



Plate XXIV. Page 115. 

DOWNY WOODPECKER. 

Length, 6-75 inches. Male, upper parts black and white, nape scarlet ; 
under parts white. Female, similar, but no scarlet on nape. 



CHAPTEK VII. 
HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS. 

The preceding outline of the events which may enter 
into a bird's life -history has, I trust, given some idea of 
the possibilities attending the study of birds in the field. 
We come now to the practical question of identification. 
How are we to find birds, and, having found them, how 
are we to learn their names ? 

From April to August there is probably not a min- 
ute of the day when in a favorable locality one can not 
see or hear birds ; and there is not a day in the year 
when at least some birds can not be found. In the be- 
ginning, therefore, the question of finding them is simply 
a matter of looking and listening. ' Later will come the 
delightful hunts for certain rarer species whose acquaint- 
ance we may make only through a knowledge of their 
haunts and habits. 

Having found your bird, there is one thing absolutely 
necessary to its identification : you must see it definitely. 
Do not describe a bird to an ornithologist as " brown, 
with white spots on its wings," and then expect him to 
tell you what it is. Would you think of trying to iden- 
tify flowers of which you caught only a glimpse from a 
car window in passing ? You did not see them definitely, 
and at best you can only carry their image in your mind 
until you have opportunity to see them in detail. 

So it is with birds. Do not be discouraged if the 
books fail to show you the brown bird with white spots 

71 



72 HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS. 

on its wings. Probably it exists only through your hasty 
observation. 

Arm yourself with a field- or opera-glass, therefore, 
without which you will be badly handicapped, and look 
your bird over with enough care to get a general idea of 
its size, form — particularly the form of the bill — color, 
and markings. Then — and I can not emphasize this too 
strongly — put what you have seen into your note-book 
at once. For, as I have elsewhere said, "not only do 
our memories sometimes deceive us, but we really 
see nothing with exactness until we attempt to de- 
scribe it." 

It is true that all the birds will not pose before your 
glasses long enough for yon to examine them at yonr 
leisure, but many of them will, and in following the 
others yon will have all the excitement of the chase. 
Who knows what rare species the stranger may prove 
to be! 

From your description, and what added notes on voice 
and actions you may obtain, the field key and illustra- 
tions on the succeeding pages should make identification 
a simple matter.* You should also take into considera- 
tion the season of the year when a bird is present, and 
not call a summer bird by a winter bird's name. The 
dates of migration given in the following pages will be of 
assistance here. They refer to the vicinity of New York 
city, where, in the spring, birds arrive about a week later 

* The publishers' liberality has resulted in securing bird portraits 
of unusual excellence. Mr. Seton Thompson is an ornithologist as 
well as an artist ; his subjects are personal friends. He has spared no 
effort to make these pictures characteristic life sketches, and I ven- 
ture to claim that, as a whole, they excel in truth and beauty any 
bird-drawings ever published in this country. 



A BIRD'S BIOGRAPHY. - ^3 

than in central Illinois or at Washington, D. C, and a 
week earlier than at Boston. In the fall these conditions 
are reversed. 

A Bird's Biography. — As a further guide to your 
observation a list of the principal details which enter into 
a bird's life -history is appended : 

1. Description (of size, form, color, and markings). 

2. Haunts (upland, lowland, lakes, rivers, woods, fields, etc.). 

3. Movements (slow or active, hops, walks, creeps, swims, tail 

wagged, etc.). 

4. Appearance (alert, pensive, crest erect, tail drooped, etc.). 

5. Disposition (social, solitary, wary, unsuspicious, etc.). 

6. Flight (slow, rapid, direct, undulating, soaring, sailing, 

flapping, etc.). 

7. Song (pleasing, unattractive, continuous, short, loud, 

low, sung from the ground, from a perch, in 
the air, etc. ; season of song). 

8. Call-notes (of surprise, alarm, protest, warning, signaling, 

etc.). 

9. Season (spring, fall, summer, winter, with times of ar- 

rival and departure, and variations in num- 
bers). 

10. Food (berries, insects, seeds, etc. ; how secured). 

11. Mating (habits during courtship). 

12. Nesting (choice of site, material, construction, eggs, incu- 

bation). 

13. The Young (food and care of, time in the nest, notes, actions 

flight). 

From observations of this kind, consisting of a simple 
statement of facts, you may philosophize according to 
your nature on the relation between habit and structure, 
colors and haunts, and intelligent adaptation to new con- 
ditions. Beware, however, lest you be led to draw faulty 
conclusions from insufficient observation. Do not make 
the individual stand for its species, or the species for its 
family, and remember that one is warranted in theorizing 
only when the facts in the case are facts indeed. 



12 



n 



TOPOGRAPHY OF A BIRD. 




CHAPTEE VIII. 
A FIELD KEY TO OUR COMMON LAND BIRDS. 

When you have seen a bird with sufficient definite- 
ness to describe its color, form, and actions, reference to 
the following key will often prove a short cut to its 
identity. This key is based only on adult males, who, 
because of their song, often brighter colors, and greater 
activity, are far more frequently observed than the 
females. But, knowing the male, you will rarely, during 
the nesting season, be at loss to recognize his mate. 

In order to simplify the key, the water birds, Hawks, 
and Owls are omitted, in the belief that they will be 
more readily identified by reference to the plates. 

The use of the key may be illustrated by the follow- 
ing example : Let us imagine that you see a Chipping 
Sparrow (Plate XLY) feeding about your doorstep. 
You note his size, chestnut cap bordered by white, black 
bill, brownish, streaked back, and grayish white, un- 
marked under parts. Turning now to the key, you will 
see that by exclusion the bird belongs in " Section Y " 
of the " Third Group," and that it should be placed in 
subsection " 1 " of this section, which includes birds hav- 
ing the " under parts white or whitish, all one color, with- 
out streaks or spots." You have now two subdivisions to 
choose from — "A. Back without streaks or spots," and 
"B. Back brownish, streaked." Your bird falls under 
" B," where again you have two subdivisions, " a. Crown 
rufous or chestnut, without streaks," and " o. Crown not 
rufous or chestnut." Your bird should be referred to 
" «," where you will at once find it described under " a x " 
as the Chipping Sparrow. 

75 



76 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 

It should be borne in mind that living birds do not 
look as long as they really are. The measurement of 
"leno-th" is taken with the bird's neck and tail out- 
stretched in a straight line. In life the tail may be raised 
or drooped, while the neck is drawn in or curved, making 
the bird look shorter than measurement shows it to be. 
Remember that the Robin measures ten. inches, the House 
Sparrow six and one-fourth inches, and the Ruby-throated 
Humming-bird three and three-fourths inches in length, 
and you will have a basis for comparison. 

FIRST GROUP. 

BIRDS THAT FEED ON THE WING FOR LONG INTERVALS OF TIME 
WITHOUT PERCHING. 

{Swallows, Swift, Nighthaivk, Whip-poor-will.) 
I. Size large, length over 9-00 inches ; the spread wings over 15*00 
inches in extent ; generally seen only late in the afternoon or at 
dusk. 

1. A bird of the air, flying high, often over housetops in cities; a conspicu- 
ous white spot in each wing ; note, a loud, nasal peent ; sometimes dives 
earthward with a booming sound ; May to Oct. . Nighthawk:, page 118. 

2. Haunts, near the ground, not often observed while feeding; call, given 
from a rock, stump, or similar perch, whip-poor-will, vigorously repeated ; 
Apl. 25 to Oct Whip-poor-will, page 119. 

II. Size smaller, length under 9 - 00 inches ; the spread wings less than 
15*00 inches in extent ; may be seen at any time of the day. 

1. Plumage entirely black. 

a. Length 5-50 inches ; plumage sooty black ; usually nests in chimneys ; 
Apl. 25 to Oct Chimney Swift, page 119. 

b. Length 8-00 inches ; glossy, bluish black ; nests in gourds or houses 
erected for its use ; Apl. 25 to Sept. . . . Purple Martin, page 161. 

2. Plumage not entirely black ; Apl. to Oct. . Swallows, pages 159, 160. 

SECOND GROUP. 

CLIMBING AND CREEPING BIRDS. 

(Nuthatches, Creepers, Woodpeckers.) 
I. Birds without stiffly pointed tail-feathers, that climb either up or 

down. 
1. Length 6*00 inches ; back gray, cap black, cheeks and under parts 
white ; note, a nasal yank, yank ; a permanent resident. 

White-breasted Nuthatch, page ISO. 



FIELD KEY TO COMMOX BIRDS. _ 77 

2. Length 4 - 50 inches ; back gray, cap black, a blackish streak through 
the face ; under parts reddish brown ; note, high and thin, like the tone 
of a penny trumpet ; Sept. to Apl. Bed-breasted Nuthatch, page 181. 

3. Length 5-25 inches ; upper parts streaked black and white ; note, a thin 
wiry see- see-see-see ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 

Black axd white Warbler, page 167. 
II. Birds with stiffly pointed tail-feathers, that always climb upward. 

1. Length 5-65 inches; plumage dull brown and black; size small, bill 
slender ; an inconspicuous bird who winds his way up the trunks search- 
ing for insects' eggs. etc. ; note, tine and squeaky ; Sept. 25 to Apl. 

Brown Creeper, page 178. 

2. Plumage with more or less white, size larger, bill stouter, chisel-like, 
often used in hammering. 

A. Length 9-75 inches ; head red, back black ; flight showing a large 
white patch in the wing . . . Red-headed Woodpecker, page 116. 

B. Length 12*00 inches ; crown gray ; a red band on the nape ; flight 
showing a white patch on the lower back and yellow in the wings ; 
often flushed from the ground ; note, Ic'ce-yer . . Flicker, page 116. 

C. Length 6"75 inches ; crown black ; back and wings black and white ; 
note, a sharp peek Downy Woodpecker, page 115. 

THIRD GROUP. 

BIRDS NOT INCLUDED IX THE PRECEDING GROUPS. 

{Blackbirds, Orioles, Sparrows, Vireos, Warblers, TJirushes, etc.) 

Section I. With yellow or orange in the plumage. 

Section II. With red in the plumage. 

Section III. With blue in the plumage. 

Section IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and white. 

Section V. Birds not included in the preceding sections. 

I. With yellow or orange in the plumage. 

1. Throat yellow. 
A. Throat and breast pure yellow, without streaks or spots. 

a. Length 5*10 inches ; cap, wings, and tail black ; back yellow ; song 
canarylike, sometimes uttered on the wing ; flight undulating, fre- 
quently accompanied by the notes cJilc-o-ree, per-chlc-o-ree ; a per- 
manent resident Am. Goldfinch, page 148. 

b. Length 5-95 inches ; lower belly and wing-bars white ; back olive- 
green ; frequents the upper branches, generally in woodland ; actions 
deliberate ; song loud and musical, uttered slowly, often with pauses : 
" See me ? I'm here; where are you \ " ; May to Sept. 

Yellow-throated Vireo, page 165. 

c. Length 5-25 inches ; cheeks and forehead black, bordered by ashy ; 
upper parts olive-green ; no wing-bars ; haunts thickets and under- 
growth ; movements nervous and active ; call-note pit or chack ; 
song, a vigorous, rapid witch-e-wee-o, witch-e-wee-o ; May to Oct. 

Maryland Yellow-throat, page 171. 



78 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 

d. Length 7"45 inches ; upper parts olive-green ; no wing-burs ; a white 
line before the eye ; haunts thickets and undergrowth ; song, a strik- 
ing mixture of whistles, chucks, and caws, sometimes uttered on the 
wing ; May to Sept Yellow-breasted Chat, page 172. 

B. Under parts streaked with reddish brown ; length 5*00 inches ; gen- 
eral appearance of a yellow bird ; haunts shrubbery of lawns, orchards, 
second growths, and particularly willows near water ; song, rather loud, 
wee, chee-chee-chee, cher-wee, or ch'ee-chee-chee-chee, way-o ; May to Sept. 

Yellow Warbler, page 168. 

C. Breast yellow, with a conspicuous black crescent; length 10*75 inches; 
haunts fields and meadows, largely terrestrial ; flight quail-like, outer 
tail-feathers white, showing when on the wing ; song, a loud, musical 
whistle ; a permanent resident Meadowlark, page 136. 

2. Throat white. 

A. With yellow on the sides. 

a. Length 5-50 inches ; rump yellow ; breast streaked or spotted with 
black ; tail-feathers marked with white ; note, a characteristic tchip ; 
Sept. to May, usually rare or local in winter. 

Myrtle Warbler, page 168. 

b. Length 5-00 inches ; no black on under parts or white in the tail ; yel- 
low extending along the whole sides ; back olive-green, iris white ; 
haunts thickets ; call, an emphatic " Who are you, eh ? " ; May to Oct. 

White-eyed Vireo, page 165. 

c. Length 5*25 inches ; tail and wings banded with yellow, showing 
conspicuously in flight; haunts woodland; movements active, much 
in the air, tail frequently spread; May to Oct. Redstart, page 169. 

B. No yellow on sides. 

a. Length 6*75 inches ; a yellow line from the bill to the eye ; crown 
black, with a white stripe through its center ; haunts in and about 
thickets and bushy woodlands ; song, a high, clear, musical whistle; 
call-note, chink White-throated Sparrow, page 143. 

b. Length 4-00 inches ; a yellow, or yellow and orange crown-patch, bor- 
dered by black ; flits restlessly about outer limbs of trees and bushes ; 
note, a fine ti-ti ; Oct. to Apl. Golden-crowned Kinglet, page. 181. 

3. Throat neither yellow nor white. 

A. Length 12-00 inches ; white rump and yellow in wings showing con- 
spicuously in flight ; a black breast-band ; note, a loud kee-yer. 

Flicker, page 116. 

B. Length 9-00 inches ; crested ; breast ashy, belly yellow ; tail-feathers 
largely pale brownish red ; haunts upper branches in woodland ; note, 
a loud questioning or grating whistle ; May to Sept. 

Crested Flycatcher, page 123. 

C. Length 7*50 inches ; throat and head black ; breast, belly, and' lower 
back deep orange ; haunts fruit and shade trees ; song, a loud, ringing 
whistle ; May to Sept Baltimore Oriole, page 131. 

D. Length 7"20 inches ; crested ; grayish brown ; a black line through 
the eye ; tail tipped with yellow ; generally seen in small fiocks. ; note 
thin and weak Cedar Waxwing, page 161. 



FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. . 79 

II. With red in the plumage. 

1. With red on the under parts. 

A. Throat red. 

a. Length 7-25 inches ; wings and tail black ; rest of plumage bright 
scarlet ; call-note, chip-chirr ; May to Sept. 

Scarlet Tanager, page 156. 

b. Length 6-20 inches ; dull, pinkish red, wings and tail brownish ; fre- 
quently seen feeding on buds or blossoms ; call-note, a sharp chink, 
often uttered during flight ; song, a sweet, flowing warble. 

Purple Finch, page 149. 

c. Length 6-20 inches ; dull red or green tinged with red ; mandibles 
crossed ; generally seen in flocks ; feeds on pine cones. 

Am. Crossbill, page 147. 

d. Length 5*30 inches; a red crown-cap; back streaked black and 
brown ; breast rosy ; feeds on seeds or catkins ; Nov. to Mch. 

Redpoll, page 146. 

B. Throat black. 

a. Length 8*00 inches ; breast rose-red, rest of plumage black and 
white ; song loud and musical ; call-note, peek ; May to Sept. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, page 150. 

b. Length 8-00 inches ; a conspicuous crest ; region about the base of 
the bill black ; rest of the plumage and bill red ; song, a clear 
whistle ; resident from New York city southward. 

Cardinal, page 153. 

c. Length 5-40 inches ; wings and tail banded with orange-red, showing 
conspicuously in flight; movements active; much in the air; tail 
frequently spread ; haunts woodland ; May to Oct. 

Redstart, page 169. 

2. No red on the under parts. 

A. Length 9-50 inches; black ; shoulders red; haunts marshes; migrates 
in flocks ; Mch. to Oct Red-winged Blackbird, page 132. 

B. Length 5 - 25 inches : crown-cap red ; chin black ; rest of under parts 
streaked with blackish ; feeds on seeds and catkins ; Nov. to Mch. 

Redpoll (im.), page 146. 

C. Length 4-00 inches ; under parts whitish ; back olive-green ; a ruby 
crown-patch ; eye-ring white ; movements restless, wings flitted nerv- 
ously ; call-note, each ; song remarkably loud and musical ; Sept. and 
Oct. ; Apl. and May Ruby-crowned Kinglet, page 182. 

III. With blue in the plumage. 

A. Length 11-50 inches; a conspicuous crest; upper parts dull blue; 
under parts whitish ; a black patch on the breast. 

Blue Jay, page 130. 

B. Length 7 - 00 inches; upper parts bright blue; under parts cinnamon- 
brown Bluebird, page 186. 

C. Length 5-50 inches ; entire plumage indigo-hlue ; May to Oct. 

Indigo Bunting, page 152. 

D. Length 13-00 ; bluish gray ; haunts near water ; feeds on fish, which 
it catches by darting on them at the surface . Kingfisher, page 114. 



80 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 

IV. Plumage conspicuously black, or black and -white. 

1. Black and white birds. 
A. Throat black. 

a. Length over 6 00 inches. 

a 1 . Entire under parts black ; nape buffy ; rump white ; a musical 
dweller of fields and meadows ; frequently sings on the wing ; May 
to Sept Bobolink, page 134. 

a 2 . Breast rose-red ; rest of the plumage black and white ; song 
rapid, loud and musical ; call-note, peek ; a tree dweller in rather 
open woodland; May to Sept. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, page 150. 

a 3 . Sides reddish brown; rest of the plumage black and white ; call- 
note, chewink or towliee ; inhabits the undergrowth : often seen on 
ground scratching among fallen leaves ; Apl. 25 to Oct. 

Towhee, page 151. 

b. Length under 6*00 inches. 

b 1 . Crown black ; cheeks white ; back ashy ; unstreaked ; call, chick- 
a-dee, or a musical, double-noted whistle; a permanent resident. 

Chickadee, page 179. 
£. Throat and other parts white or whitish. 

a. Length 8-50 inches ; upper parts blackish slate-color ; tail tipped with 
white ; a bird of the air, catching its insect food on the wing, and 
occasionally sallying forth from its exposed perch in pursuit of a pass- 
ing Crow ; note, an unmusical, steely chatter ; May to Sept. 

Kingbird, page 122. 

b. Length 6-90 inches ; upper parts washed with rusty ; generally seen 
in flocks : terrestrial ; Nov. to Mch Snowflake, page 147. 

2. No white in the plumage. 

A. Length 19-00 inches ; jet black Am. Crow, page 128. 

B. Length 12-00 inches; black with metallic reflections ; iris yellowish; 
migrates in flocks ; nests usually in colonies in coniferous trees ; voice 
cracked and reedy ; tail " keeled " in short flights ; a walker ; Mch. to 
Nov Purple Grackle, page 133. 

G. Length 9-50 inches ; shoulders red ; haunts marshes ; call, kong-quer- 
ree ; Mch. to Oct Red-winged Blackbird, page 132. 

D. Length 7*90 inches ; head and neck coffee-brown ; frequently seen on 
the ground near cattle ; Mch. to Nov Cowbird, page 137. 

V. Birds not included in the preceding sections (that is, 
plumage without either yellow, orange, red, or blue; 
not conspicuously black, or black and -white). 

1. Under parts white or whitish, all one color, without streaks or spots. 
A. Back without streaks or spots. 
a. Back olive-green ; gleaners, exploring the foliage for food or flitting 
about the outer branches. 

a 1 . Length 6-25 inches; a white line over the eye bordered by a nar- 
row black one ; cap gray ; iris red ; song, a rambling recitative f" You 
see it — you know it — do you hear me ? " etc. ; May to Oct. - 

Red-eyed Vireo, page 164. 



FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. . 81 

a 2 . Length 5*75 inches ; a white line over the eye not bordered by 
black ; prefers the upper branches of rows of elms and other shade 
trees ; song, a rich, unbroken warble with an alto undertone ; May 
to Sept Warbling Vireo, page 165. 

a 3 . Length 4-00 inches ; no white line over the eye ~ eye-ring and 
wing-bars white ; a tiny, unsuspicious bird ; flits about the outer 
branches of trees and shrubs ; wings twitched nervously ; note, 
each ; song, a remarkably loud, musical whistle ; Sept. and Oct. ; 
Apl. and May Kuby-crowned Kinglet, page 182. 

b. Back olive-green or dusky olive ; flycatchers who capture their prey 
on the wing by darting for it, and while perching are quiet and erect. 
b 1 . Length 7'00 inches ; frequently found nesting under bridges or 

about buildings; crown blackish; tail wagged nervously; notes, 

pee, pee, andpewit-phos.be; Mch. to Oct. . . . Ph(ebe, page 124. 
b' 2 . Length 6*50 inches ; haunts wooded growths ; note, a plaintive 

pee-a-wee\ May to Sept Wood Pe wee, page 126. 

b 3 . Length 5-40 inches ; haunts orchards, lawns, and open woodlands ; 

note, chebec, chebec Least Flycatcher, page 125. 

c. Back gray or bluish gray. 

c 1 . Length 6-50 inches ; a gray, crested bird ; forehead black ; no white 
in the tail; note, a whistled peto,peto, or hoarse de-de-de-de; resi- 
dent from New York city southward . . Tufted Tit, page 180. 

c 2 . Length 8*50 inches ; a white band at the end of the tail ; a con- 
cealed orange-red crest ; a bird of the air, catching its insect food 
on the wing, and occasionally sallying forth from its exposed perch 
in pursuit of a passing Crow ; note, an unmusical, steely chatter ; 
May to Sept Kingbird, page 122. 

d. Back brown. 

d 1 . Length 5*00 inches ; a nervous, restless, excitable bird ; tail often 
carried erect; song sweet, rapid and rippling, delivered with aban- 
don ; Apl. 25 to Oct House Wren, page 175. 

d 2 . Length 12*25 inches ; slim, brownish birds with long tails ; flight 
short and noiseless ; perch in a tree, not in an exposed position ; 
note, tut-tut, cluch-cluck, and cow-coio\ May to Oct. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blackbilled Cuckoo, pages 112, 113. 
B. Back brownish, streaked. 
a. Crown rufous or chestnut without streaks. 

a 1 . Length 5*25 inches ; bill black ; a whitish line over the eye ; a 
familiar bird of lawns and door-yards ; song, a monotonous chippij- 
cMppy-cMppy \ Apl. to Nov. . . Chipping Sparrow, page 142. 
a a . Length 5'70 inches ; bill reddish brown, back rufous or rufous- 
brown ; wing-bars and eye-ring whitish ; haunts dry, bushy flelds 
and pastures; song, a musical, plaintive cher-wee, cher-wee, cher- 
ivee, cheeo, dee-dee-dee-dee ; Apl. to Nov. Field Sparrow, page 140. 
a 3 . Length 5-90 inches ; forehead black ; crown and wings chestnut- 
rufous ; flanks pale grayish brown ; haunts marshes ; song, a rapidly 
repeated weet-weet-weet, etc. ; Mch. to Nov. 

Swamp Sparrow, page 139. 
13 



82 FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. 

b. Crown not rufous or chestnut. 
b 1 . Length 6-75 inches ; crown blackish, with a central whitish stripe ; 
throat white ; breast gray ; a yellow spot before the eye ; haunts 
in and about thickets and bushy woodlands ; song, a high, clear, 
musical whistle ; call-note, chink. 

White-throated Sparrow, page 143. 
b 2 . Length 5-20 inches; bill . slender ; a white line over the eye; 
tail carried erect ; haunts reedy marshes ; call-note scolding ; 
song rippling ; May to Oct. 

Long-billed Marsh Wren, page 177. 
2. Under parts white or whitish, streaked or spotted. 

A. Back streaked. 

a. Length 6-10 inches ; outer tail-feathers white, showing conspicuously 
when the bird flies ; haunts dry fields and roadsides ; song musical ; 
Apl. to Nov Vesper Sparrow, page 141. 

b. Outer tail-feathers not white. 

b 1 . Length 6-30 inches ; breast with numerous spots tending to form 
one large spot in its center; haunts on or near the ground, generally 
in the vicinity of bushes ; call-note, chimp • song musical ; a per- 
manent resident Song Sparrow, page 138. 

b 2 . Length 6*35 inches ; breast grayish with one spot in its center ; 
Oct. to Apl Tree Sparrow, page 146. 

B. Back not streaked ; breast spotted. 

a. Length 1T40 inches; tail 5-00 inches; wing-bars white; upper parts, 
wings, and tail bright cinnamon-brown; haunts undergrowth; sings 
from an exposed and generally elevated position ; song loud, striking, 
and continuous ; Apl. 25 to Oct. . . Brown Thrasher, page 175. 

b. Length under 9'00 inches ; tail under 3 - 00 inches ; no wing-bars ; 
back reddish or cinnamon-brown. 

b 1 . Length 8*25 inches ; breast and sides heavily marked with large, 
round, black spots ; head and upper back brighter than lower back 
and tail ; call-note, a sharp pit or liquid quirt ; May to Oct. 

Wood Thrush, page 184. 

b 2 . Length 7 - 15 inches; breast with wedge-shaped black spots; sides 
unspotted, washed with brownish ashy ; tail reddish brown, brighter 
than back ; call-note, a low chuck ; Apl. 10 to May 10 ; Oct. and 
Nov Hermit Thrush, page 185. 

6 3 . Length 7*50 inches ; upper breast lightly spotted with small, wedge- 
shaped, brownish spots ; tail the same color as the back ; sides white ; 
call-note, a clearly whistled wheeu ; May to Sept. 

Wilson's Thrush, page 183. 

c. Length under 9-00 inches ; tail under 3-00 inches ; no wing-bars ; back 
olive-green. 

c\ Length 6-10 inches ; center of crown pale brownish bordered by 
black; haunts on or near the ground in woodland; a walker; 
song, a ringing crescendo, teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, 
TEACHER; May to Sept Oven-bird, page 170. 



FIELD KEY TO COMMON BIRDS. - 83 

3. Under parts not white or whitish, all one color, without streaks. 

A. Length 8-50 inches ; slate-color ; cap and tail black ; inhabits the 
lower growth ; call-note, nasal ; song highly musical and varied ; Apl. 
25 to Oct Catbird, page 173. 

B. Length 7*20 inches ; grayish brown ; conspicuously crested ; a black 
line through the eye ; tail tipped with yellow ; generally seen in small 
flocks ; note thin and weak Cedar Waxwing, page 161. 

C. Length 5-50 inches; under parts cream-buff; a conspicuous whitish 
line over the eye ; upper parts reddish brown ; movements active; tail 
carried erect ; haunts lower growth ; notes loud and striking; resident 
from New York city southward .... Carolina Wren, page 177. 

4. Throat and upper breast black or slate-color, very different from the 
white or chestnut belly. 

A. Throat black. 

a. Belly and rump chestnut; head, wings, and tail black; length 7*30 
inches ; haunts orchards and shade trees ; song highly musical ; May 

to Sept Orchard Oriole, page 132. 

b. Belly white ; sides reddish brown : tail black and white ; length 8-35 
inches ; haunts undergrowths ; call-note, chewink or towhee ; Apl. 25 
to Oct Towhee, page 151. 

B. Throat slate-color. 

a. Back and wings slate-color; outer tail-feathers and belly white; 
length 6-25 inches ; haunts generally on or near the ground about 
shrubbery ; Oct. to Apl Junco, page 145. 

5. Throat streaked with black and white ; rest of under parts reddish brown ; 
upper parts grayish slate-color ; length 10-00 inches . Robin, page 186. 



OUR COMMON BIRDS. 
THE WATER BIEDS. 

DIVING BIRDS. (ORDER PYGOPODES.) 

Grebes. (Family Podicipid^e.) 

The study of water birds requires special advantages 
and equipments, among which are a suitable location, 
much time, and a gun. Our coasts and shores are be- 
coming so popular as " resorts " that many of the former 
haunts of waterfowl are now thickly populated, and the 
birds are comparatively rare. Furthermore, the larger 
number of our water birds nest in the far North and 
winter in the South, visiting the Middle States only while 
on their migrations. It is evident, therefore, that if we 
would become familiar with these birds, we must devote 
ourselves especially to their pursuit. 

There are, however, some species, notably those which 

frequent bodies of fresh water and nest in this latitude, 

Pied-billed Grebe which deserve to be ranked among our 

Podiiymbus podiceps. commoner birds. Of these, one of the 

Plate ii. j^gf. k n0WI1) by name a t least, is the 

Pied-billed Grebe, whose aquatic powers have given it 
the expressive title of Hell-diver. 

Under favorable conditions this little Grebe may breed 
anywhere from the Argentine Republic to British Amer- 
ica, but in the Middle States it occurs chiefly as a spring 
and fall migrant. When nesting, a quiet, reedy pond or 
lake is chosen for a home, the nest being made on a pile 
of decaying vegetation. The eggs, four to eight in num- 
ber, are dull white, more or less stained by the nesting 
material, which the parent bird rarely fails to place over 

84 




Plate XXV. Page 116. 

KED-HEADED WOODPECKER 

Length, 9-75 inches. Adult, whole head and neck deep red, back and 
tail black; upper tail-coverts, greater part of secondaries, and belly- 
white. Young, similar, but head, back, throat, and sides grayish black. 



LOON. ' 85 

them when leaving the nest. The young are born covered 
with down and can swim at birth. The Pied -billed 
Grebe is one of our most aquatic birds. When pursued, 
it prefers diving to flight, and the marvelous rapidity 
with which it can disappear from the surface of the 
water, to reappear in a quite unexpected place, justifies 
its reliance on its own natatorial powers. It can swim 
under water with only its bill exposed, when it becomes 
practically invisible. 

When on land Grebes progress awkwardly. They 
can, it is said, stand erect on their toes, but, when resting, 
support themselves on the whole length of the foot or 
tarsus (see Fig. 8, the Great Auk). 

On the wing Grebes resemble small Ducks, but their 
pointed bill and their feet stretched out behind the rudi- 
mentary tail will serve to distinguish them. 

Loons. (Family Urinatorid^e.) 

The Loon, like its small relative the Grebe, is known 

to almost every one by name, but only those who have 

Loon visited its summer haunts among the 

Urinator imber. Northern lakes and heard its wild call 

Plate in. can ^ e ga ^ ^ Q k now ft Nuttall writes 

of its cry as "the sad and wolfish call of the solitary 
Loon, which, like a dismal echo, seems slowly to invade 
the ear, and, rising as it proceeds, dies away in the air." 
It " may be heard sometimes for two or three miles, when 
the bird itself is invisible, or reduced almost to a speck 
in the distance." The Loon is as aquatic in habits as the 
Grebe, but is much stronger on the wing. It migrates 
by day, and probably also by night, and we may some- 
times see it passing over — a large, ducklike bird — in 
March and October. 

When on land, it is nearly helpless, progressing awk- 



86 HERRING GULL. 

wardly by the use of feet, wings, and bill. For this rea- 
son it nests near the water's edge, often where it can 
slide from the eggs directly into its true element. The 
nest is a slight depression in the earth, in which are laid 
two elliptical eggs, in color olive-brown, slightly spotted 
with blackish. 



LONG- WINGED SWIMMERS. (ORDER LONGIPENNES.) 

Gulls and Terns. (Family Larid^.) 

No birds are more widely distributed than the Gulls 

and Terns. Some species are pelagic, visiting the land 

_ T . _ „ only at Ions: intervals and when nest- 
Herring Gull, J & 

Lams argerdatus ing ; others live along the coast, and 
smithsonianus. several species resort to inland waters. 
About one hundred species are known, 
fifty being Gulls and fifty Terns. The former are, as a 
rule, larger, stouter birds than the latter, and, generally 
speaking, are more maritime. The commonest of the ten 
species found in the Eastern States is the Herring Gull. 
It nests from Maine northward, and is found southward 
along our coast from October 1 to April. This is the 
Gull we see in such numbers in our bays and harbors, 
flying gracefully and apparently aimlessly about, but in 
reality ever keeping its bright black eyes fixed on the 
water in search of some floating morsel, which it deftly 
picks from the surface. It frequently follows vessels, 
hanging over the stern day after day, and deserting its 
post only to feed on scraps thrown overboard from the 
galley. There are said to be reliable records of these 
birds following the same vessel from the Irish coast to 
New York Harbor. 

Gulls do excellent service in devouring much refuse 
that would otherwise be cast ashore to decay ; but, useful 




Plate XXVI. Page 116. 

FLICKEE. 

Length, 12-00 inches. Male, crown gray, nape scarlet, back brownish 
and black, rump white; under surface of wings and tail yellow; sides of 
throat and breast-patch black ; belly spotted with black. Female, simi- 
lar, but no black on sides of throat. 



. 



COMMON TERN. . 87 

as they are as scavengers, I feel that their place in Nature 
is to animate the barren wastes of the sea. How, when 
at sea, the presence of a single Gull changes the whole 
aspect of Nature ! The great expanse of water, which 
before was oppressive in its dreary lifelessness, is trans- 
formed by the white -winged Gulls into a scene of rare 
beauty. Every voyager, be he naturalist or not, admires 
their grace of form and motion. They seem born of the 
waves, and as much a part of the ocean as the foamy 
whitecaps themselves. 

The beautiful Terns or Sea Swallows are even more 
graceful than the Gulls. They are slenderer birds, lighter 
Common Tern an( ^ more active on the wing, with long, 
stema Mrundo. - forked tails and pointed bills. They 
Plate x. arrive from the South in May and re- 

main until September, nesting in colonies. 

Terns are littoral rather than pelagic, seldom being 
found far from the shore. Like the Gulls, they seem so 
in harmony with their surroundings that no coast view is 
perfect from which the Terns are missing. They add 
the requisite touch of life, and make still more impressive 
the thunder of the surf dashing over rocks or curling in 
long, combing waves on the beach. 

During recent years these birds have been killed in 
such numbers for millinery purposes that on the middle 
Atlantic coast the only survivors exist on three or four 
uninhabited islets. If one protests against the merciless 
destruction of these exquisite creatures the excuse is, 
" Well, what good are they ? " — an answer betraying such 
an utter lack of appreciation of beauty that explanation 
seems hopeless. But can we not learn, before it is too 
late, that these birds are even more deserving of protec- 
tion than the works of art we guard so zealously ? 



88 PETRELS. 

TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. (ORDER TUBINARES.) 

Petrels. (Family Procellariidje.) 

Petrels, or " Mother Carey's Chickens," are true chil- 
dren of the sea. Their home is the ocean, and they come 
to land only when nesting. To the 
etre s, landsman, therefore, they are strangers, 

but to most people who have been to 
sea they are known as the little, white-rumped swallow- 
like birds who on tireless wing follow in the wake of the 
ship day after day, patiently waiting for the food which 
experience tells them will be thrown overboard. 

Two species of Petrels are found off our coasts, Wil- 
son's and Leach's. The former has a yellow area in the 
webs of the toes and a square tail, while Leach's Petrel has 
the webs of the toes wholly black and a slightly forked 
tail. These differences, however, would not be appre- 
ciable at a distance. Wilson's Petrel nests in certain 
islands of the southern hemisphere in February, and 
later migrates northward, reaching our latitude in May 
and spending the summer, or what in fact is its winter, 
in the North Atlantic. It is, therefore, probably the 
Petrel most frequently seen by transatlantic voyagers at 
this season. 

Leach's Petrel nests on our coasts from Maine north- 
ward, arriving from the South in May. The nest is 
made in a burrow in the ground or beneath a rock, and 
a single white egg is laid. Generally one of the birds 
spends the day on the nest while its mate is at sea, but 
at night the incubating bird leaves the nest, its place being 
taken probably by the one who has been feeding during 
the day. 










Plate XXVII. Pages 118, 119. 

NIGHTHAWK. 

Length, 10-00 inches. Male, above, black, white, and rusty; below, 
black and white ; throat, bands in wing, and tail white. Female, similar, 
but throat rusty ; no tail-band. 

WHIP-POOK-WILL. 
Length, 9-75 inches. Male, body black, rusty, and buff; primaries 
spotted with rusty ; tips of outer tail-feathers and breast-band white. 
Female, similar, but breast-band and end of tail rusty. 



DUCKS. - 89 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS. (ORDER ANSERES.) 
Ducks, Geese, and Swans. (Family Anatid^:.) 

This family contains some two hundred species, and 
is represented in all parts of the world. It includes five 
subfamilies : the Mergansers (Mergince), or Fish-eating 
Ducks ; the Pond or River Ducks (Anatince), the Bay or 
Sea Ducks (FuligulinoB) ; the Geese (Anserincb) ; and 
the Swans (Cygninm). 

Ducks, like all hunted birds, are exceedingly wild, 
and comparatively few species will come within reach of 
the student's opera-glass. The group may therefore be 
reviewed briefly. The Mergansers or Shelldrakes, num- 
bering three species, have narrow, serrate bills which 
enable them to hold the fish they pursue and catch 
under water (see Fig. 18). 

The River Ducks have little or no lobe or flap on the 

hind toe. In this group belong our Mallard, Widgeon, 

Pintail, Blue- winged and Green -winged 

Plate v ' Teals, Black Duck, Wood Duck, and 

others. All but the last two nest in 

the North and are found in our latitude only during 

their spring and fall migrations, or, if the weather be 

mild, in the winter. The Black Duck, and Wood Duck 

nest rarely in the Middle States. 

All these birds feed in shallow water by " dabbling " 
or " tipping," terms which will be readily understood by 
any one who has watched domesticated Ducks feeding. 

The Bay and Sea Ducks, on the contrary, are divers, 
and may descend to the bottom in water more than one 
hundred and fifty feet in depth. They are to be dis- 
tinguished from the River Ducks by the presence of a 
flap or lobe on the hind toe. The commoner members of 
14 



90 DUCKS AND GEESE. 

this subfamily are the Redhead, Canvasback, Scaup or 
Broadbill, Whistler, Bufflehead, Old Squaw, Eider, three 
species of Scoters or " Coots " and Ruddy Duck. These 
are all northern-breeding birds who visit the waters of 
our bays and coasts during their migrations or in the 
winter. 

The bill in both River and Bay Ducks has a series of 
gutters on either side which serve as strainers. The 
birds secure a large part of their food — of small mollusks, 
crustaceans, and seeds of aquatic plants — from the bot- 
tom, taking in with it a quantity of mud, which they 
get rid of by closing the bill and forcing it out through 
the strainers, the food being retained. 

Geese are more terrestrial than Ducks, and, though 
they feed under water by tipping, often visit the land to 
procure grass, corn, or cereals, which they readily nip off. 
The white-faced, black-necked Canada Goose is our only 
common species. Its long overland journeys, while 
migrating, render it familiar to many who have seen it 
only in the air. It migrates northward in March and 
April and returns in October and November, breeding 
from the Northern States northward and wintering from 
New Jersey southward. 

The two Swans, Whistling and Trumpeter, found in 
North America, are generally rare on the Atlantic 
coast. 



HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, ETC. (ORDER 
HERODIONES.) 

Herons and Bitterns. (Family Ardeid^:.) 

Oe the seventy-five known members of this family 
fourteen inhabit eastern North America. Most of these 
are Southern in distribution, only six or seven species 
regularly visiting the Northern States. Their large size 







U { 




Plate XXVIII. Page 119. 

CHIMNEY SWIFT. 

Length, 540 inches. Sooty black, throat grayish. 



GREAT BLUE HERON. - 91 

renders Herons conspicuous, and, though worthless as 
food, few so-called sportsmen can resist the temptation 
of shooting at them when opportunity offers. Several 
of the Southern species, notably the Snowy Heron and 
White Egret, are adorned during the nesting season with 
the beautiful " aigrette " plumes which are apparently so 
necessary a part of woman's headgear that they will go 
out of fashion only when the birds go out of existence. 
One can not blame the plume hunters, who are generally 
poor men, for killing birds whose plumes are worth more 
than their weight in gold — the blame lies in another 
quarter. But I have no words with which to express 
my condemnation of the man who kills one of these 
birds wantonly. 

The presence of a stately Great Blue Heron or 
" Crane " adds an element to the landscape which no 

Great Blue Heron, work of man can e( l uaL Its g race of 
Ardea herodias. form and motion, emphasized by its 
Plate vi. large size, is a constant delight to the 

eye ; it is a symbol of the wild in Nature ; one never 
tires of watching it. What punishment, then, is severe 
enough for the man who robs his fellows of so pure 
a source of enjoyment ? A rifle ball turns this noble 
creature into a useless mass of flesh and feathers ; the 
loss is irreparable. Still, we have no law to prevent it. 
Herons are said to devour large numbers of small fish. 
But is not the laborer worthy of his hire ? Are the fish 
more valuable than this, one of the grandest of birds ? 

The Great Blue Heron breeds throughout North 
America, but there are now only a few localities in the 
northeastern States where it may be found nesting. We 
usually see it, therefore, as a migrant in April and May, - 
and from August to November. 

The Little Green Heron is the smallest, as the Great 
Blue Heron is the largest, of our Herons. Its small 



92 HERONS. 

size, preference for wooded regions instead of marshes, 
and habit of nesting alone, not in flocks, like most Her- 
Little Green Heron, ons > accounts for its being relatively 
Ardea virescens. common. It arrives from the South 
Plate vi. about April 20, and nests early in 

May. The nest, as is usual in this family, is a rude 
platform of sticks and is placed in a bush or the lower 
branch of a tree, often overhanging the water. The eggs 
number from three to six, and in color are pale green- 
ish blue. The young, although born with a covering of 
hairlike feathers, are quite helpless and are reared in 
the nest. Adults have the crown and back dark, glossy 
green, the neck reddish brown. 

The notes of this little Heron are a clear whistle and 
a harsh squawk, uttered when it is frightened. It then 
seeks refuge by alighting in a distant bush or tree, and 
with upstretched neck and twitching tail watches the 
intruder. 

The Night Heron, or Squawk, doubtless owes its 

escape from the fate of most Herons to its nocturnal 

habits. These birds arrive from the 

N' ht H o South in April and remain until Oc- 

Nycticorax nycticorax tober. They nest in large colonies, a 

ncevius. rookery not far from New York city 

being inhabited by at least one thousand 

pairs. It is in a low, wooded tract, and the nests are built 

in the trees at an average height of thirty feet. The eggs 

number four to six, and in color are pale bluish green. 

At night, while feeding, these Herons are doubtless 
distributed over a wide area. When flying, they often 
utter a loud squawk, the origin of one of their common 
names. It is a surprising sound when heard near by at 
night, and has doubtless aroused the curiosity of many 
persons who live near a line of flight followed by these 
birds in going to and from their nests. 




Plate XXIX. Page 120. 

BUBY-THKOATED HUMMINGBIBD. 

Length, 3 -75 inches. Adult male, upper parts metallic green ; throat 
metallic ruby-red ; belly grayish ; sides greenish. Adult female and 
young, similar, but throat white. 



AMERICAN BITTERN. . 93 

The Bittern > or Stake Driver, is a summer resident of 
our larger marshes, arriving early in April and remaining 
American Bittern, until October. Though by no means 
Botaurus lentiginosus. common, its notes are so loud and re- 
Piate vii. markable that even a single calling 

bird is more likely to attract attention than many smaller 
abundant species. Under favorable circumstances these 
notes may be heard for at least three fourths of a mile. 
They are of two kinds. One is described as the " pump- 
ing " call, and is generally written pump-er-lunJc, pump- 
er-lunh, pump-er-hmh, while the other is deceptively like 
the sound produced by driving a stake in the mud. Mr. 
Bradford Torrey, one of the few ornithologists who has 
observed the bird while it was uttering these singular 
cries, tells us (The Auk, vi, 1889, p. 1) that they are 
attended by violent, convulsive movements of the head 
and neck, which suggest the contortions of a seasick 
person, but that the bird's bill is neither immersed in 
water nor plunged in the mud, as has been popularly 
supposed. 



CRANES, RAILS, ETC. (ORDER PALTJDICOL-2E.) 

Bails and Coots. (Family Rallid^e.) 

Eails are marsh-inhabiting birds, more often heard 
than seen. They are very reluctant to take wing, and 
when pursued seek safety by running or hiding rather 
than by flying. "When flushed, they go but a short dis- 
tance, and with dangling legs soon drop back into the 
grasses. 

Of the one hundred and eighty members of this 
family, fourteen inhabit North America and eight visit 
the northeastern United States. Only three or four of 
these, however, are abundant, the most numerous and 



94 RAILS AND COOT. 

generally distributed species being our Sora or Carolina 
Rail, so well known to sportsmen. This bird passes 
Sora us in the spring in April and nests from 

Porzana Carolina. Massachusetts northward. It returns 
Plate vii. ^ n August and lingers in our wild-rice 

marshes until October. During the nesting season it 
has two calls — a whistled, Jeer-wee, and a high, rolling 
whinny. In the fall it utters a kuk or peep when dis- 
turbed. 

There is no sexual difference in color in this species, 
but birds of the year lack the black about the base of 
the bill and on the throat, and have the breast washed 
with cinnamon. 

Our other species of Rail are the King, Yellow, and 
Little Black Rail, all of which are rare ; the Virginia Rail, 

Clapper Sail which is more common, and the Clap- 

Raiius crepitans. per Rail or Marsh Hen, an abundant 

Plate vm. species in some of the salt marshes 

along our coasts from Long Island southward. It is a 
noisy bird with a peculiar cackling call which it utters 
in a way that suggests the sound produced by some auto- 
matic toys. 

Its nest is made of dried grasses, the surrounding 
marsh grass being slightly arched over it. Eight to 
twelve buffy, speckled eggs are laid, a number which, 
in connection with the abundance of the bird, has led to 
the persistent robbing of its nests by men who sell the 
eggs for food. As a result of this practice the birds 
have greatly decreased in numbers during recent years. 

The Coot, Mud-hen, or Crow-duck differs from the 
Rails in having lobed toes (see Fig. 12) and in -being 

American Coot, more a q uatic - In fact > it is more like 
Fuiica americana. a Duck in habits than like a Rail, but 
Plate vm. j ts p i n ted, white-tipped bill will pre- 

vent its being mistaken for one. 




Plate XXX. Page 122. 

KINGBIED. 

Length, 8-50 inches. Upper parts grayish black ; tip of tail and under 
parts white ; an orange-red crown-patch. Young, similar, but without 
orange-red in crown. . 



WOODCOCK. - 95 

It rarely breeds on the Atlantic coast, but is some- 
times common on our marsh-bordered streams in the 
fall. 



SHORE BIRDS. (ORDER LIMICOLiE.) 

Snipes and Sandpipers. (Family Scolopacid^e.) 

The successful pursuit of shore birds on our coasts 
requires a special knowledge of their notes and habits. 
Thirty of the one hundred known species visit us annu- 
ally, but of this number only two or three nest, most of 
the others migrating in May to their breeding grounds in 
the far North. The return migration takes place during 
July, August, and September, but with some exceptions 
these birds are seen only by those who hunt them sys- 
tematically with decoys. 

Only these exceptions and our summer resident species 
will be mentioned here. Commonest among the latter 

Woodcock * s tne Woodcock, a bird so unlike other 

PMioAeia minor. Snipe in his choice of haunts that he 
Figs. 9 and 19. seems quite out of place in this family. 
Nor is he, strictly speaking, a summer resident, for there 
are only three months in the year when the Woodcock 
is not with ns. He comes in March as soon as the frost- 
bound earth will permit him to probe for his diet of 
worms, and he remains until some December freeze 
drives him southward. 

Low, wet woods, where skunk cabbage and hellebore 
thrive, or bush-grown, springy runs, are the Woodcock's 
early haunts. In August, while molting, he often visits 
cornfields in the bottom lands, and in the fall wooded 
hillsides are his resorts. But, wherever he is, the Wood- 
cock leaves his mark in the form of " borings " — little holes 
which dot the earth in clusters, and show where the bird 



96 SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 

has probed for earthworms with his long, sensitive bill, 
the upper mandible of which, as Mr. Gordon Trumbull 
has discovered, the bird can use as a finger. 

The Woodcock's nest is made of dried leaves, and the 
four large, pear-shaped eggs are buff, spotted with shades 
of reddish brown. The young are born covered with 
rich chestnut and buff down, and can run as soon as 
dry. 

As a songster the Woodcock is unique among our 
summer birds. Ordinarily sedate and dignified, even 
pompous in his demeanor, in the spring he falls a victim 
to the passion which is accountable for so many strange 
customs in the bird world. 

If some April evening you visit the Woodcock's 
haunts at sunset, you may hear a loud, nasal note repeated 
at short intervals— peent, peent. It resembles the call of 
a Mghthawk, but is the Woodcock sounding the first 
notes of his love song. He is on the ground, and as you 
listen, the call ceases and the bird springs from the ground 
to mount skyward on whistling wings. He may rise 
three hundred feet, then, after a second's pause, one hears 
a twittering whistle and the bird shoots down steep 
inclines earthward. Unless disturbed, he will probably 
return to near the spot from which he started and at 
once resume his peenting. This, with the twittering 
note, is vocal ; the whistling sound, heard as the bird rises, 
is produced by the rapid passage of air through its stif- 
fened primaries. 

Our only other common summer resident Snipe is the 

Spotted Sandpiper. It frequents the shores of lakes, 

Spotted Sandpiper, V on ^ and ri ^ers, and is also found 

Actitis macuiaria. near the sea, but wherever seen may be 

Plate xi. known by its singular tipping, teter- 

ing motion, which has given it the names of Tip-up and 

Teter Snipe. It is also called Peet-weet, from its sharp 




Plate XXXI. Page 123. 

CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 

Length, 9-00 inches. Upper parts brownish olive-green ; inner vane of 
tail-feathers rusty ; breast gray ; belly pale yellow. 



WILSON'S SNIPE. ' 97 

call, rapidly repeated as it flies over the water. After 
gaining headway it sails for some distance, when its wide- 
stretched wings show a white bar or band. 

The Spotted Sandpiper arrives from the Sonth late 
in April and remains until October. It nests in the lat- 
ter half of May, laying four pear-shaped eggs, in color 
white or buff, thickly spotted and speckled with choco- 
late, chiefly at the larger end. The young, like those of 
all Snipe, are born with a covering of downy feathers, 
and can run as soon as dry. The egg is, therefore, large 
in proportion to the size of the bird, and measures 1*25 by 
•95 inches. (See Fig. 24«.) 

Unlike the two preceding birds, Wilson's or the 
English Snipe is not a summer resident in the Middle 
Wilson's Snipe States, but as a rule nests from north- 
GaiUnago deikata. em New England northward, though 
Plate ix. there are records of its breeding as 

far south as Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It migrates 
northward in March and April, and the return journey 
occurs during September and October. It is not a true 
shore bird, but frequents fresh-water marshes and mead- 
ows, and in rainy April weather, when the lowlands be- 
come more or less flooded, it may be found in places where 
few persons would think of looking for Snipe. 

Like the Woodcock, Wilson's Snipe probes the mud 
for food, and when on the ground among the grasses its 
colors and pattern of coloration so closely resemble its 
surroundings that it is almost invisible. 

When flushed, it utters a startled scaip, and darts 
quickly into the air, flying at first in so erratic a manner 
that it has become famous among sportsmen as a diffi- 
cult mark. 

Like the Nighthawk, Wilson's Snipe sometimes dives 
earthward from high in the air, making as he falls a 
sound which Minot compares to that produced by throw- 
15 



98 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 

ing a nail held crosswise in the hand, though it is louder 
and more full. This performance is generally restricted 
to late evening and early morning during the spring, but 
is occasionally practiced in the fall. 

Most of our transient visitant Snipe are true shore 

birds. Many of them are classed as game birds, and have 

Sem'valm ted now ^ ecome s0 uncommon that, as 

Sandpiper, before remarked, it requires a special 

Ereunetes pusiiius. knowledge of their ways in order to 

find them. But there are some species 

too small to be worthy the sportsman's attention, and they 

are often numerous on our beaches. They are generally 

known as Peeps or Ox-eyes, but in books are termed 

Semipalmated Sandpipers — active little fellows, with 

black, gray and rusty backs and white under parts, who 

run along the shore, feeding on the small forms of life 

cast up by the waves. They are sociable birds, and even 

when feeding the members of a flock keep together, while 

when flying they move almost as one bird. 

These Sandpipers visit us in May, when journeying to 
their summer homes within the Arctic Circle, and return 
in July, to linger on our shores until October. Their 
call-note is a cheery, peeping twitter, which probably 
suggested one of their common names. 



Plovers. (Family Charadriid^:.) 

Most Plovers differ from Snipe in possessing three 
instead of four toes, and in having the scales on the tarsi 
rounded, not square or transverse, Their bill is shorter 
and stouter than that of Snipe, and they do not probe 
for food, but pick it up from the surface. 

Although several species visit dry fields and uplands, 
they are ranked as shore birds or bay birds, and, as with 
Snipe, the species large enough to be ranked as game 




Plate XXXII. Page 124. 

PHCEBE. 

Length, 7-00 inches. Back dusky olive; crown blackish; under parts 
white tinged with yellow; outer margin of outer tail-feathers whitish; 
bill black. 



PLOVERS. ' 99 

have become comparatively rare. Of the one hundred 
known species, six visit eastern North America — the 
Black -breasted, Golden, Piping, Wilson's, Semipalmated, 
and Killdeer Plovers. Only the last two of these are 
common enough to deserve mention here. 

Killdeer ^ ne Killdeer, with the exception of 

^Egiaiitis vodfera. the Piping Plover, is the only bird of 

Plate xi. fljjg family that nests with us. It is 

irregularly distributed in the northeastern States, but its 
noisy call, hildee, Jcildee, and striking markings render it 
a conspicuous bird even where it is uncommon. It fre- 
quents uplands and lowlands, fields and shores, but prefers 
the vicinity of water. Its nest of grasses is made on the 
ground, and its four eggs are whitish, spotted and scrawled 
with chestnut, chiefly at the larger end. 

The Semipalmated or Ping-necked Plover looks like 
a miniature of the Killdeer, but, in addition to other dif - 

„ . , L , _. f erences, has onlv one band on the 

Semipalmated Plover, ' J 

jsgiaiitis breast. The male has the upper parts 

semipalmata. brownish gray, the under parts, nape, 
and forehead white, while the breast- 
band, crown, and cheeks are black. In the female these 
black areas are brownish gray. This Plover visits our 
shores and beaches during its northward migration in 
May and southward migration in August and September. 
Thanks to its small size, it is not hunted as game, and 
for this reason is almost as common as the little Peeps 
or Ox-eyes, with which it often associates. Its call is a 
simple but exceedingly sweet and plaintive two -noted 
whistle. 



THE LAND BIRDS. 
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. (ORDER GALLINiE.) 

Bob-whites, Grouse, etc. (Family Tetraonid^.) 

This is the family of the game birds — the aristocrats 
of the bird world. They are protectively colored birds, 
their rich brown, buff, and black plumage harmoniz- 
ing with their surroundings. Relying on their incon- 
spicuousness, they avoid danger by hiding rather than by 
flight, taking wing only as a final resort. Then, with a 
startling whir-r-r, they spring into the air, their short, 
strong wings enabling them to reach their greatest speed 
within a short distance of the starting point. 

One of the best-known members of this distinguished 

family is our familiar Bob-white, the Quail of the North 

and Partridge of the South. The fact 

ColinTj^lnus. is > he is neither a tme Q nail nOT Par " 

tridge, and those who claim that but 
one of these names is correct may compromise on " Bob- 
white." 

The Bob -white inhabits the eastern United States, and 
wherever found is resident throughout the year. The 
sexes are much alike in color, the only important differ- 
ence being in the throat and the line over the eye, which 
are white in the male and buff in the female. 

~No bird better illustrates the peculiar potency of 
bird song, and the hopelessness of attempting to express its 
charm. If I should describe Bob-white's call to a person 
who had never heard it, as two ringing notes, do you 
suppose he would have the faintest conception of what 

100 




Plate XXXIII. Page 126. 

WOOD PEWEE. 

Length, 6-50 inches. Upper parts dusky olive-green; under parts 
whitish, washed with dusky; lower mandible yellowish. 



\ 



RUFFED GROUSE. ' 101 

they mean to those who love them ? The promise of 
Spring, its fulfillment in summer, is clearly told in Bob- 
white's greeting. Then, in the autumn, when the mem- 
bers of a scattered bevy are signaling each other, their 
sweet where are you f where are you f is equally associated 
with the season. 

The Bob- white nests about May 20, laying from ten 
to eighteen white eggs in a nest on the ground. 

The Ruffed Grouse, or Partridge of the North and 
Pheasant of the South, is properly a true Grouse, and 
Ruffed Grouse can no ^ De correctly called either Par- 
Bonasa umieiius. tridge or Pheasant. He is a more 
Plate xii. northern bird than the Bob-white, be- 

ing found south of Yirginia only in the Alleghanies. 
Requiring large tracts of woodland for his haunts, he 
is less generally distributed and not so common as his 
plump relative. 

I always associate the Grouse with the astounding 
roar of wings made by the bird as he springs from the 
ground at my feet and sails away through the forest. I 
watch him at first with dazed surprise, then with a keen 
sense of pleasure in the meeting. One need not be a 
sportsman to appreciate the gamin ess of the Grouse. 

To find a hen Grouse with young is a memorable 
experience. While the parent is giving us a lesson in 
mother-love and bird intelligence, her downy chicks are 
teaching us facts in protective coloration and heredity. 
How the old one limps and flutters ! She can barely 
drag herself along the ground. But while we are watch- 
ing her, what has become of the ten or a dozen little 
yellow balls we almost stepped on ? Not a feather do 
we see, until, poking about in the leaves, we find one 
little chap hiding here and another squatting there, all 
perfectly still, and so like the leaves in color as to be 
nearly invisible. 



102 MOURNING DOVE. 

The drumming of the Grouse, as described by Mr. 
Thompson, begins " with the measured thump of the big 
drum, then gradually changes and dies away in the rum- 
ble of the kettle-drum. It may be briefly represented 
thus : Thump — thump — thump — thump, thump • thump, 
thump — rup rup rup rup, r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. The sound is 
produced by the male bird beating the air with his wings 
as he stands firmly braced on some favorite low perch." 

The Ruffed Grouse makes its leaf -lined nest usually 
at the base of a tree or stump, and the eight to fourteen 
buff eggs are laid early in May. 



PIGEONS AND DOVES. (ORDER COLUMBiE.) 

Pigeons and Doves. (Family Columbid^e.) 

The three hundred species belonging in this order are 
distributed throughout most parts of the world, but only 
two of them are found in the northeastern States. One 
of these, however, the Wild Pigeon, is now so rare that 
its occurrence is worthy of note. Less than fifty years 
ago it was exceedingly abundant, but its sociable habits 
of nesting and flying in enormous flocks made it easy 
prey for the market hunter, and, with that entire disre- 
gard of consequences wmich seems to characterize man's 
action when his greed is aroused, the birds were pur- 
sued so relentlessly that they have been practically ex- 
terminated. 

The Mourning or Carolina Dove has happily beep 
more fortunate. Nesting in isolated pairs, and not 
Mourning Dove, gathering in very large flocks,-, it has 
Zenaidura macroura. escaped the market hunter. 

Plate xiii. ^-g j) ove i s f oun d throughout the 

greater part of North America. In the latitude of New 
York it is a summer resident, arriving in March and 




EV-fteSfc SeXonThotnf>sor^ 



Plate XXXIV. Page 126. 

HORNED LARK. 
Length, 7-75 inches. Upper parts brownish and sandy ; front and sides 
of crown, sides of throat, and breast-patch black ; forehead, line over eye, 
and throat pale yellow ; breast dusky, belly white, tail black, outer feath- 
ers margined with white. 



TURKEY VULTURE. . 103 

remaining until November. In April we may hear its 
soft, sweet call, coo-o-o, ah-coo-o-o — coo-o-o — eoo-o-o, as sad 
as the voice of the wind in the pines. 

Although the bird is as beautiful in appearance as it 
is graceful in flight, it is a surprisingly poor housekeeper. 
Its platform nest of a few twigs is about as flimsy as any- 
thing worthy the name can be, and one wonders how 
even two eggs are kept on it long enough to hatch. In 
the West the nest is placed on the ground ; in the East, 
on the lower branch of a tree. 

Like all the members of their family, Doves immerse 
the bill while drinking, and do not withdraw it until 
the draught is finished. The young are fed on softened 
food regurgitated from the parent's crop. 



BIRDS OF PREY. (ORDER RAPTORES.) 

American Vultures. (Family Cathartid^:.) 

There are but eight Vultures in the western hemi- 
sphere, and only two of these, the' Black and the Turkey 
Yulture, are found in the eastern United States. The 
former is not often seen north of North 

ur ey ure, Carolina, but the Turkey Yulture, or 

Cathartes aura. ' «/ ' 

Turkey Buzzard, as it is more frequent- 
ly called, comes each summer as far as Princeton, IS". J., 
and occasionally strays farther north. 

The Turkey Buzzard is one of Nature's scavengers, 
and, as such, is one of the few birds whose services to 
mankind are thoroughly appreciated. There are others 
of equal or even greater value who daily earn their 
right to the good will which we stupidly and persistently 
refuse to grant them ; but of the Turkey Buzzard's assist- 
ance we have frequent convincing proof, and the decree has 
gone forth that injury to this bird is punishable by fine. 



104: RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 

No other birds are so well protected ; and as a result 
Turkey Buzzards and Black Vultures walk about the streets 
of some of our Southern cities with the tameness of domes- 
tic fowls. If we should similarly encourage our insectivo- 
rous birds, who can predict the benefits which might accrue ? 



Hawks, Falcons, and Eagles. (Family Falconid^e.) 

To this family belong the diurnal birds of prey, 
which number some three hundred and fifty species, and 
are distributed throughout the world. They are birds 
of strong flight, and capture their prey on the wing by 
striking it with their sharp, curved claws, the most dead- 
ly weapons to be found in any bird's armament. The 
bill is short, stout, and hooked, and is used to tear the 
prey while it is held by the feet. 

The voices of Hawks are in keeping with their dis- 
positions, and, while their lives typify all that is fierce 
and cruel, no birds are more often wrongly accused and 
falsely persecuted than our birds of prey. To kill one 
is regarded as an act of special merit ; to spare one seems 
to place a premium on crime. Still, these birds are among 
the best friends of the farmer. There are but two of our 
common species, Cooper's and the Sharp-shinned, who 
habitually feed on birds and poultry. Our other com- 
mon species are, without exception, invaluable aids to the 
agriculturist in preventing the undue increase of the small 
rodents so destructive to crops. 

Any one reading Dr. Fisher's reports on this subject 

can not fail to be impressed with the array of facts he 

presents in proof of the value of these 

Hawk, birds. For instance, the Red-shoul- 

Buteo Uneatus. dered Hawk, to which the name 
Plate xiv. Chicken or Hen Hawk is often ap- 

plied, has been found to live largely on small mammals, 




Plate XXXV. Page 131. 

BALTIMOEE ORIOLE. 

Length, 7-50 inches. Male, crown, upper back, and throat black; lower 
back, outer tail-feathers, breast, and belly rich orange. Female, upper 
parts mixed black and yellowish, rump and tail dirty yellow; under parts 
dusky yellow. 



RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. - 105 

reptiles, batrachians, and insects. Indeed of 220 stomachs 
which were examined of this so-called " Chicken " Hawk, 
only 3 contained remains of poultry ! Of the rest, 12 
contained birds; 102, mice; 40, other mammals; 20, 
reptiles; 39, batrachians; 92, insects; 16, spiders; 7, 
crawfish ; 1, earthworms ; 2, offal ; 3, fish ; and 14 were 
empty * The usefulness of this Hawk is therefore obvi- 
ous, and in killing it we can readily see that we not only 
harm ourselves but render an important service to our 
enemies. 

Fortunately, this valuable ally is one of our com- 
monest Hawks, and is with us throughout the year. Its 
loud scream, Jcee-you, Tcee-you, as it sails about, high in the 
air, is a familiar summer sound. The " red " shoulder is in 
reality a rich, reddish chestnut on the lesser wing-coverts, 
and serves to identify the bird in both immature and 
adult plumage. The Eed-shoulder's nest, like that of 
most of our Hawks, is constructed of sticks and twigs, 
with a lining of cedar bark, moss, or some other soft 
material, and is situated in a tree thirty to sixty feet 
from the ground. Apparently the -same pair of birds re- 
turn to a locality year after year, sometimes using the 
same nest, at others building a new one. The eggs are 
about as large as those of a hen and in color are dull 
white, more or less sprinkled, spotted, or blotched with 
cinnamon-brown or chocolate. They are laid early in 
April, most of the Hawks being early breeders. The 
young are born covered with white down, but are help- 
less, and are reared in the nest. 

The Red-tailed Hawk is also known as the Hen Hawk 
or Chicken Hawk, but has almost as good a record as 



* See Fisher, The Hawks and Owls of the United States in their 
Relation to Agriculture; Bulletin No. 3, Division of Ornithology 
and Mammalogy. United States Department of Agriculture, 1893. 
16 



106 HAWKS. 

the Red-shoulder, and is equally deserving of protec- 
tion. He is larger than the Red-shoulder, whom he re- 
sembles in habits, and has a reddish 
Red-tailed Hawk, brQwn ^ and ft broken w k band 

Jauteo borealis. 

across the breast when adult. His call 
is a thin, long-drawn, wheezy whistle, which reminds one 
of the sound produced by escaping steam. 

The Marsh Hawk courses to and fro over field and 

meadow, like a Gull over the water. He never sails, 

Marsh Hawk however, but on firm wing flies easily 

Circus Jmdsonius. and gracefully, ever on the watch for 

Plate xv. p re y | n tbe g rasses De ] ow> He may 

sometimes mistake birds for mice, but he captures far 
more of the latter than of the former, and only 7 of the 
124 Marsh Hawks whose stomachs were examined by 
Dr. Fisher had eaten chickens. 

The Marsh Hawk is migratory, and in winter is not 
often found north of southern Connecticut. He nests 
later than the resident Hawks, and, unlike them, builds 
his nest of grasses on the ground in the marshes, laying 
from four to six dull white or bluish white eggs early 
in May. 

The Sparrow Hawk has a perfectly clean record, 

as far as chickens go, not one of the 320 whose stomachs 

Sparrow Hawk, were examined by Dr. Fisher, having 

Faico sparverius. partaken of poultry, while no less than 

Plate xvi. 215 had eaten insects, and 89 had cap- 

tured mice. Grasshoppers are the Sparrow Hawk's chief 
food, and we may often see him hovering over the fields 
with rapidly moving wings. Then, dropping lightly down 
on some unsuspected victim below, he returns to the bare 
limb or stub he uses for a lookout station, uttering an 
exultant hilly — hilly — hilly as he flies. 

The Sparrow is distributed throughout the greater 
part of North America, but in winter is not found north 




Plate XXXVI. Page 132. 

ORCHARD ORIOLE. 

Length, 7-30 inches. Adult male, crown, back, and throat black, rest of 
body chestnut. Young male, upper parts olive-green ; throat black, rest 
of under parts yellowish. Female, similar, but black on throat replaced 
by yellowish. 



HAWKS. ' 107 

of southern New York. It migrates northward in Feb- 
ruary and March, but does not nest until May. Unlike 
our other Hawks, it chooses a hollow tree for a home, 
often taking possession of a Woodpecker's deserted hole. 
It lays three to seven eggs, which are finely and evenly 
marked with reddish brown. 

It is the Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks who are 
the real culprits in Hawkdom. They feed almost exclu- 

Sharp-shinned Hawk, sivel J on birds > and > nayin g once ac ~ 
Accipiter veiox. quired a taste for tender young broilers, 
Plate xvii. ^j are a pt t ma k e daily visits to the 
hen yards. They are less often observed than the Hawks 
previously mentioned, seeking less exposed perches and 
soaring comparatively little ; but, when seen, their slen- 
der bodies and long tails should aid in distinguishing 
them from the stouter, slower-flying Hawks. As a rule, 
they are silent. It is difficult to explain the differences 
between these and other Hawks with sufficient clearness 
to prevent one's killing the wrong kind, but if the farmer 
will withhold his judgment against Hawks in general, 
and shoot only those that visit his poultry yard, he will 
not go far astray. 

Cooper's Hawk resembles the Sharp-shinned in color, 

but is about four inches longer, and its outer tail-feathers 

are about half an inch shorter than the 

l?Jp2?™*ri. middle ones instead of - bein g of e <l ual 
length. With the preceding species it 

may be known by its slender form, long tail, compara- 
tively short wings, and long, thin tarsi or " legs." 

The Chinese and Japanese train Cormorants to fish 

American Osprey ^ or tnem > but tne services of these birds 

Pandion, iiaiiaetus would soon be at a discount if the 

caroiinensis. Osprey could be induced to work for a 

Plate XVIII. x J 

master. What an inspiring sight it is 
to see one plunge from the air upon its prey ! One can 



108 OWLS. 

sometimes hear the splash half a mile or more, and the 
bird is quite concealed by the spray. It is a magnifi- 
cent performance, and when, after shaking the water from 
his plumage, he rises into the air, I am always tempted to 
applaud. 

The Osprey, or Fish Hawk, as he is also called, adheres 
closely to a finny diet ; neither flesh nor fowl appears on 
his menu, and he is consequently a migratory bird, com- 
ing in April when the ice has melted and remaining until 
October. In favorable localities he nests in colonies, re- 
turning year after year to the same nest. 

One master, it is true, the Osprey has, though he 
makes a most unwilling servant. The Bald-headed 
Eagle is often an appreciative observer of the Osprey's 

Bald Eagle piscatorial powers, which so far exceed 

Ealiwetus his own that he wisely, if unjustly, 

UucocepMius. profitg hj them> p ursu i ng t h e Osprey, 

he forces him to mount higher and higher until the poor 
bird in despair drops his prize, which the Eagle captures 
as it falls. 

Eagles are becoming so rare in the Northern States 
that their occurrence is sometimes commented on by the 
local press as a matter of general interest. Nevertheless, 
no opportunity to kill them is neglected, and the majestic 
birds who in life arouse our keenest admiration are sac- 
rificed to the wanton desire to kill. 



The Owls. (Family Bubonid^:.) 

The Owls number about two hundred species, and 
are distributed throughout the world. As a rule they 
are nocturnal or crepuscular birds, passing the day in 
hollow trees or dense evergreens, and appearing only 
after nightfall ; but there are some diurual species, such 




Plate XXXVII. Page 133. 

PURPLE GRACKLE. 

Length, male, 12-50 inches; female, 11-00 inches. Male, head, neck, 
throat, and breast bright metallic blue, purple, or green ; back with 
iridescent bars; belly paler; eye pale yellow. Female, much duller 
than male. 



OWLS. 109 

as the Snowy Owl and Hawk Owl, northern birds that 
visit us rarely in winter. 

Because of their nocturnal habits Owls are even more 
deserving of protection than the beneficial Hawks, for 
they feed at a time when mice are abroad, and their 
food consists largely of these destructive little rodents. 
They capture their prey, like the Hawks, by striking it 
with their powerful talons, when, if small enough, it is 
swallowed entire. The indigestible portions, hair, bones, 
and feathers, are formed into pellets in the stomach and 
ejected at the mouth. These may always be found in 
numbers beneath an Owl's roosting place, and form as 
sure an indication of the Owl's presence as they do of 
the nature of his food. Thus, as before mentioned, two 
hundred pellets of the Barn Owl, taken from the home of 
a pair of these birds in the tower of the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, were found by Dr. A. K. Fisher to contain the 
skulls of 454 small mammals. 

Owls are generally inhabitants of woods, but our 
Short-eared Owl is an exception to this rule, and lives 

Short-eared Owl, in lar g e > g rass y marshes. It passes the 
Asia accipitrinus. day on the ground, but at dusk may be 
Plate XIX. geen flying low over the marsh in search 

of the meadow mice which form a large part of its food. 
Dr. Fisher found, on examination of 101 stomachs of this 
Owl, that no less than 77 contained the remains of mice, 
convincing proof of its usefulness. Unlike any of our 
other Owls, the Short-eared makes its nest on the ground, 
laying from four to seven eggs. It is somewhat irregular 
in its distribution, but has been found nesting, locally, 
from Yirginia northward. It winters from New Jersey 
southward, and is sometimes associated in companies at 
this season. 

The Long-eared Owl is about the size of the Short- 
eared Owl, but its " ear-tufts " are an inch or more in 



110 OWLS. 

length, and its sides and belly are barred, not streaked, 

with blackish. It does not frequent marshes, but lives in 

swampy thickets or dense woods, and 

Long-eare w , ma k es its nest in the abandoned home 

Asio wilsomanus. 

of a Crow, Hawk, or squirrel. It is a 
permanent resident from at least Massachusetts south- 
ward. 

Of our four " horned " Owls, the Long-eared has rela- 
tively the largest and most conspicuous " ear-tufts," the 
Short-eared the smallest, while in the Great Horned Owl 
and Screech Owl the ears are of about the same propor- 
tionate size. The Great Horned Owl, however, is found 
only in the wilder, more heavily wooded parts of the coun- 
try, and is hardly to be included in a list of our common 
birds. It is the largest of our resident Owls, the males 
measuring twenty-two inches in length, while its " ear- 
tufts " are nearly two inches long. 

The Screech Owl is doubtless the commonest of our 
Owls, as it is also the most familiar, nesting about and 

Screech Owl even m our nouses when some favor- 

Megascops asio. able hole offers. It has little to say for 

Plate XX. itgelf until itfl family of f Qiir tQ gix 

fuzzy Owlets is safely launched into the world; then, in 
July or August, we may hear its melancholy voice — not 
a "screech," but a tremulous, wailing whistle. It has 
several other notes difficult to describe, and when alarmed 
defiantly snaps its bill. 

Some Screech Owls are gray, others bright reddish 
brown, and these extremes are connected by specimens 
intermediate in color. This difference in color is not due 
to age, sex, or season, and is termed dichromatism, or 
the presence in the same species of two phases of color. 
The same phenomenon is shown by other birds, notably 
certain Herons, and among mammals by the gray squir- 
rel, some individuals of which are black. The observa- 




Plate XXXVIII. Page m 

BOBOLINK. 

Length, 7-25 inches. Male, in summer, nape buff; shoulders and rump 
whitish ; crown and under parts black. Female, young, and male in 
winter, sparrowlike; upper parts black, brownish, and buffy; under 
parts yellowish white. 



BABRED OWL. 'Ill 

tions of Dr. A. P. Chadbourne apparently show that the 
Screech Owl may pass from one phase to another without 
change of plumage.* 

We do not think of Owls as being insectivorous birds, 
but Dr. A. K. Fisher tells us that of 225 Screech Owls' 
stomachs examined, 100 contained insects. As 91 of the 
remaining 125 contained mice, and poultry was found 
in only one stomach, the farmer may well consider the 
Screech Owl a bird of good repute rather than of ill 
omen. 

Next to the Screech Owl the Barred Owl is doubtless 
our most common representative of this family, but its 

Barred Owl fondness for deep woods prevents its 

Syrnium nebuiosum. being known to many who recognize the 

Plate xxi. Screech Owl's mournful song. 

In both voice and appearance the Barred Owl seems 
the most human of our Owls. Its call is a deep-voiced 
questioning whod-whoo-tohoo, who-whoo, to-whoo-ah, 
which may be heard at a distance of half a mile. It 
echoes through the woods at night with startling force, 
and the stories told of its effect on persons who were 
ignorant of its source are doubtless not without foun- 
dation. 

Other calls are a long-drawn who-o-o-o-dh, and rarely 
a thrilling, weird shriek. When two or more Owls are 
together, they sometimes join in a most singular concerted 
performance. One utters about ten rapid hoots, while 
the other, in a slightly higher tone, hoots about half as 
fast, both birds ending together with a whoo-ah. At 
other times they may hoot and laugh in a most remark- 
able and quite indescribable manner. 

The Barred Owl feeds largely on mice, and 46 of 100 
stomachs examined contained remains of these rodents. 

* The Auk (New York city),.xiii, 1896, p. 321 ; xiv, 1897, p. 33. 



112 CUCKOOS. 

It is generally resident throughout its range, and in 
March makes its nest, selecting for a site a hollow tree, 
or the deserted home of a Crow or Hawk. Two to four 
eggs are laid, which, like the eggs of all Owls, are pure 
white. 



CUCKOOS, KINGFISHERS, ETC. (ORDER, COCCYGES). 

Cuckoos. (Family Cuculid^e.) 

All Cuckoos have two toes directed forward and two 
backward, but the cause or use of this character it is dif- 
ficult to understand, so widely do the members of this 
family differ in habit. Some are arboreal, never visiting 
the earth, while others are terrestrial, running with great 
swiftness, and rarely perching far above the ground. 

Most Cuckoos — all our thirty -five American species — 
have noticeably long tails, which they raise and droop 
slowly just after alighting, or when their curiosity is 
aroused. 

Of the one hundred and seventy -five known species, 
only two are found in the northeastern States — the Yel- 

„ „ , billed and the Black-billed Cuckoos. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, . n . 

Coccus americanus. The former is generally the more corn- 
Plate xxn. mon. It is a retiring bird, and you 
will doubtless be first attracted to it by its notes. It does 
not perch in an exposed position, nor make long flights, 
but usually flies from the shelter of one tree directly into 
the protecting foliage of another. If you catch a glimpse 
of it in passing, its long tail and brownish color will 
suggest a Dove. 

Cuckoos are mysterious birds well worth watching. 
I would not imply that their deeds are evil ; on the con- 
trary, they are exceedingly beneficial birds. One of 
their favorite foods is the tent caterpillar which spins the 




Plate XXXIX. Page 136. 

MEADOWLAKK. 

Length, 10-75 inches. Upper parts black, brown, and buff; under parts 
yellow, a black crescent on the breast, sides streaked with black ; outer 
tail-feathers white. 



MU. 



KINGFISHERS. . 113 

destructive u worms' nests " in our fruit and shade trees. 
Indeed, we should be very much better off if Cuckoos 
were more numerous. Nevertheless, there is something 
about the Cuckoo's actions which always suggests to me 
that he either has just done, or is about to do, something 
he shouldn't. 

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo's call begins with a series 
of tut-hds or cl-ucks, and ends with a loud cow, cow, cow, 
cow, cow, cow. These notes are so unlike those of any 
other of our birds, except those of the Black-billed 
Cuckoo, that they will readily be recognized. 

The Black-billed Cuckoo resembles the Yellow-bill, 
but has the bill wholly black, the skin about the eye red, 
Black-billed Cuckoo, and tne tail-feathers with only small, 
Coccyzus inconspicuous whitish tips. It resem- 

e-rythropMMimus. bleg the Yellow-bill in habits, but, as 
IVIr. Brewster tells me, its tut and cluck notes are softer, 
and the cow-cow notes are connected. 

Both our Cuckoos are migratory, wintering in Cen- 
tral and South America. They return to us about May 
5, and remain until October. Their nests are carelessly 
made platforms of sticks with a few catkins added as a 
lining, and are usually placed in tangles of vine-covered 
bushes, or the lower limbs of trees. The eggs, three to 
five in number, are pale, greenish blue, those of the 
Black -bill being slightly smaller in size and darker in 
color than those of its yellow-billed cousin. 

Kingfishers. (Family Alcedinidje.) 

Of the one hundred and eighty known Kingfishers, 
only eight are inhabitants of the New World, the head- 
quarters of the family being in the East Indies. The New 
World species are mostly tropical, and but one of the eight 

reaches the eastern United States. This is our common 
17 



114 WOODPECKERS. 

Belted Kingfisher, familiar by voice and appearance to 
every one who lives near a river or pond. He comes 

Belted Kingfisher, in A P ril > wnen tlie ice n0 longer cov- 
Ceryk alcijon. ers his hunting ground, and remains 
Plate xxiii. until November; or, if the season be 
exceptionally mild, he sometimes stays for the winter 
fishing. His nest is built in a hole in a bank, where, 
early in May, his mate lays from five to eight white 
eggs. 

The Kingfisher is generally branded a fish thief and 
accounted a fair mark for every man with a gun, and, 
were it not for his discretion in judging distances and 
knowing just when to fly, he would long ago have disap- 
peared from the haunts of man. We might now be a 
few fish richer, but would they repay us for the loss of 
this genius of wooded shores ? 



WOODPECKERS AND WRYNECKS. (ORDER PICI.) 

Woodpeckers. (Family Picidje.) 

The three hundred and fifty known species of Wood- 
peckers are represented in all the wooded parts of the 
world except the Australian region and Madagascar. 
Nearly one half this number are found in the New 
World, and of these twenty -five occur in North America. 

Few birds seem better adapted to their mode of life 
than Woodpeckers, the structure of their bill, tongue, 
tail, and feet being admirably suited to their needs. 

The notes of Woodpeckers can not be termed musical, 
and their chief contribution to the springtime chorus is a 
rolling tattoo which resembles the h-r-r-r-ring call of the 
tree frogs. The feathered drummer selects a resonant 
limb and pounds out his song with a series of strokes de- 




Plate XL. Page 137. 

COWBIKD. 

Length, 7-90 inches. Mate, head and neck all around dark coffee-brown ; 
rest of plumage glossy greenish black. Female, dirty brownish gray ; 
throat whitish. 



■HI 



WOODPECKERS. . 115 

livered so quickly that his head becomes a series of mazy 
heads. 

Watch the Downy Woodpecker, our commonest 
species, while he is engaged in this surprising perf orm- 
Downy Woodpecker, ance ' How he seems to enjoy it ! His 
Dryohates pubescem whole appearance is martial and defi- 
medianus. an t. It is his challenge to the Wood- 
pecker world. After each roll he looks 
proudly about him and perhaps utters his call-note, a 
sharp peek, peek, which suggests the sound produced by 
a marble cutter's chisel. More rarely this call is pro- 
longed into a connected series, when one can readily 
imagine that the quarrier has dropped his tool. 

The Downy is a hardy bird and is with us throughout 
the year. In the winter he forms a partnership with the 
Chickadee and Nuthatch, and if the good this trio does 
could be expressed in figures, these neglected friends of 
ours might receive some small part of the credit due 
them. Who can estimate the enormous numbers of in- 
sects' eggs and larvae which these patient explorers of 
trunk and twig destroy ? 

The Downy, as well as some other Woodpeckers, be- 
lieves in the comfort of a home. He will not pass cold, 
wintry nights clinging to the leeward side of a tree when 
by the use of his chisel -bill he can hollow a snug chamber 
in its heart. So, in the fall, we may sometimes find him 
preparing his winter quarters. His nest is constructed 
in the same manner, and his eggs, like those of all Wood- 
peckers, are glossy white. 

The Hairy Woodpecker, the Downy's big cousin, is 

not quite so common as his smaller 
Hairy Woodpecker, lftti The twQ bMs are near] a]ike 

Dryobates villosus. i 

in color, and differ only in the mark- 
ings of the outer tail-feathers. In the Downy these are 
white, barred with black; in the Hairy, white without 



116 WOODPECKERS. 

black bars. The case is interesting, and shows how nearly 
alike in color distinct species may be. In size, however, 
the difference is more noticeable, the Hairy being nearly 
three inches the longer. 

In life the Hairy is a somewhat shier bird, fonder of 
the forest than of the orchard. His peek note is londer 
and sharper than that of the Downy, and his rattling call 
suggests that of the Kingfisher. 

The gayly colored Eed-headed "Woodpecker is as 

erratic in his goings and comings as he is striking in 

„ , , - dress. In the northeastern States he is 

Bred-headed 

Woodpecker, locally common in summer, and if well 

Meianerpes supplied with beechnuts, may remain 

erythrocephaius. fajfa- t ^ e wm t e r. Some years the 

Plate XXV . . 

grayish headed young birds are excep- 
tionally abundant in the fall, but their white wing-patch- 
es, which show so conspicuously when they fly, and their 
loud, rolling call of ker-r-ruck, Jcer-r-ruck, are unmistak- 
able marks of identity. 

The most interesting of our Woodpeckers is the 
Flicker, or High-hole, whose popularity is attested by 

Flicker n * s ^ s * °^ n0 ^ ess ^ nan thirty odd com- 

Coiaptes auratus. mon names. Surely here is an instance 
Plate xxvi. illustrating the necessity of one sci- 
entific term by which the " Piquebois jaune " of Louisi- 
ana may be recognized as the " Clape " of New York. 
He is also a Tucker, a Flicker, and a Yellow-ham- 
mer ; all these names being based on his notes or plu- 
mage. 

The Flicker is less of a carpenter than are others of 
his family, and generally selects decayed logs and stumps 
as his hunting grounds. Here he hunts for his favorite 
food of ants, which he also procures at their holes and 
mounds. This is the reason we so often flush the Flicker 
from the ground, and, if we mark the spot from which he 




Plate XLI. Page 138. 

SONG SPAEEOW. 
Length, 6-25 inches. Upper parts chestnut, gray, and black; under 
parts white, streaked with chestnut and black; outer tail-feathers 
shortest. 



MUL 



GOATSUCKERS. . 117 

rises, the probabilities are that we shall find there a much- 
disturbed community of ants. 

Professor Beal has shown that nearly one half of the 
Flicker's food consists of ants. He further tells us that 
as ants aid in the increase of the plant lice so injurious 
to vegetation, the birds which feed on ants are therefore 
the friends of the agriculturist. 

The Flicker's most prominent marks, as with a low 
chuckle he bounds up before you, are his white rump 
patch and his wings, which show yellow in flight. His 
notes are equally characteristic. The most common is a 
loud, vigorous Jeee-yer, apparently a signal or salute. In 
the spring, and occasionally in the fall, he utters a pleas- 
ing, rather dreamy cuh-cuh-cuh-cuh, many times repeated. 
When two or more birds are together, and in my ex- 
perience only then, they address each other with a 
singular weechew, weechew, weechew, a sound which can 
be imitated by the swishing of a willow wand. Much 
ceremony evidently prevails in the Flicker family, and 
on these occasions there is more bowing and scraping 
than one often sees outside of Spain. 



GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, AND HUMMINGBIRDS. 
(ORDER MACROCHIRES.) 

nlghthawks and whip-poor-wills. 
(Family Caprimulgid^e.) 

In this family the mouth of birds reaches its greatest 
development, while the bill proper is correspondingly 
small, bearing much the same relation to the mouth that 
a clasp does to a purse. These birds feed at night upon 
insects which they catch on the wing, and their enormous 
gape is obviously of great assistance in this mode of feed- 
ing. Often the sides of the mouth are beset with long 



118 NIGHTHAWK. 

bristles, which doubtless act like the wings to a fish-net, 
steering unfortunate insects down the bird's cavernous 
throat. 

The Mghthawk, or Bull-bat, as he is called in the 
South, is familiar to most persons who have the gift of 

N . , , . seeing birds, but — in the northeastern 

Chordeiies States, at least — he is usually confused 

mrginianus. w ith the Whip-poor-will, and little is 

Plate XXVII. , -c i • i i 1 

known of his real character. 

The Nighthawk is a bird of the sky. He passes the 
day perched motionless on a limb in wooded regions, on 
the ground in treeless regions, or even on a house top, 
when, as sometimes happens, he makes his home in a city. 
Probably he will not change his perch during the day, 
but as night approaches and his day begins, he will 
spread his long wings and fly away heavenward to 
course far above the earth in his search for insect 
food. 

The Mghthawk, unlike most members of its family, 
has limited vocal powers, its only note being a loud, nasal 
jpeent uttered as it flies. But it has musical talents in 
another direction. Sometimes in May or June, if you 
happen to be where Nighthawks are found — for they are 
rather local in distribution when nesting — you may hear 
a strange booming, rushing sound ; you will vainly seek 
its cause until you chance to see a Nighthawk with set 
wings diving earthward from the sky. It is a reckless 
performance, and you may suppose the bird's object is 
suicidal, but, when within a few yards of the earth, it 
will turn suddenly upward. At this moment you will 
hear the loud, humming sound, doubtless made by the 
air passing through the bird's stiffened wing-quills. 

Nighthawks, being insect-catchers, are of course 
highly migratory. They come to us early in May, and 
return to their winter quarters in South America in Oc- 




Plate XLII. Page 139. 

SWAMP SPARROW. 

Length, 5-90 inches. Summer plumage, crown bright chestnut; back 
black, brown, and buff; breast grayish; belly white; sides brownish. 
Winter plumage, similar, but crown streaked with chestnut-brown, black, 
and gray. 



CHIMNEY SWIFT. 119 

tober. During the fall migrations they often gather in 
flocks of several hundred, and as they sail about you 
may notice their best field mark, a white spot in each 
wing. Nighthawks lay two elliptical, mottled eggs on 
the bare ground or a flat rock in open fields, and, rarely, 
on a house top in the city. 

We see the Nighthawk and hear the Whip-poor-will ; 

one reason perhaps why the birds are so often confused. 

Whip-poor-will While the .Nightha wk is darting through 

Antrostomusvociferus. the sky, the Whip-poor-will is perched 

Plate xxvii. on a roc k or fence rail below, indus- 
triously whipping out a succession of rapid wMf-jpoor- 
wills interspersed with barely audible chucks. When the 
call ceases, the bird is doubtless coursing low through the 
wooded fields and glades in its search for insects. 

During the day the Whip-poor-will usually rests on 
the ground in the woods. Here also the eggs are laid, 
being deposited upon the leaves. They are two in num- 
ber, dull white, with delicate, obscure lilac markings and 
a few distinct brownish gray spots. 

Whip-poor-wills arrive from the south late in April, 
and remain with us until October. 



Swifts. (Family Micropodid^e.) 

Swifts are the most aerial of all the small land birds. 

Our Chimney Swift, the only one of the seventy -five 

Chimney Swift members of this family that occurs in 

Chcetura peiagica. eastern North America, is but five and 

Plate xxvin. a kgjj? mc h es long, while its spread 

wings measure twelve and a half inches from tip to tip. 
Its feet are proportionately small, and so weak that the 
bird can rest only by clinging to an upright surface. 
The tail is then used as a prop, its spiny-tipped feathers 
being evidently a result of this habit. 



120 HUMMINGBIRDS. 

Swifts naturally nest in hollow trees or caves, and it 
is only in the more densely populated parts of their 
range that they resort to chimneys and outbuildings. 
The nest of our Chimney Swift is a bracketlike basket 
of small twigs. They are gathered by the bird while 
on the wing, and are fastened together and to the wall 
of the tree or chimney with a glutinous saliva. 

The Chimney Swift arrives from the south about 
April 20, and remains until October. Few birds are 
better known, and under the name of " Chimney Swal- 
low" he is familiar to every one who distinguishes a 
Crow from a Robin. But, beyond similar feeding habits, 
Swifts have little in common with Swallows ; in fact, are 
more nearly related to Hummingbirds: 



Hummingbirds. (Family Trochilid^.) 

Hummingbirds are peculiar to the New World. About 
five hundred species are known, but only one of them is 

Ruby-throated found east of the Mississippi. This is 

Hummingbird, our Ruby-throat, the sexes of which are 
TrocUivs coiubHs. sometimes thought to represent differ- 
ent species. The Ruby-throat winters 
as far south as Central America, but about May 1 we 
may expect him to return to us, for he is as regular in 
his migrations as though his wings measured a foot and 
a half instead of an inch and a half in length. If you 
would have him visit you, plant honeysuckle and trum- 
pet flowers about your piazza, and while they are bloom- 
ing there will be few days when you may not hear the 
humming of this tiny bird's rapidly vibrating wings. 

The Ruby -throat feeds on insects as well as on the 
juices of flowers, and when you see him probing a corolla 
he is quite as likely to be after the one as the other. The 
young are fed by regurgitation, the parent bird insert- 




Plate XLIII. Page 140. 

FIELD SPAKROW. 

Length, 5-70 inches. Upper parts bright reddish brown and black; 
under parts grayish white ; bill reddish brown. 



FLYCATCHERS. 121 

ing its bill into the month of its offspring and injecting 
food as thongh from a syringe. 

Some tropical Hummingbirds have songs worthy the 
name, bnt the notes of onr Kuby-throat are a mere 
squeak, sometimes prolonged into a twitter. 

Under any circumstances a Hummingbird's nest ex- 
cites admiration. But if you would appreciate its fairylike 
beauty, find one where the birds have placed it, probably 
on the horizontal limb of a birch. Doubtless it will be 
occupied by the female, for it seems that the male takes 
little or no part in family affairs after incubation begins. 
As far as known, all Hummingbirds lay two white eggs 
— frail, pearly ellipses, that after ten days' incubation 
develop into a tangle of tiny dark limbs and bodies, 
which no one would think of calling birds, much less 
" winged gems." 



PERCHING BIRDS. (ORDER PASSERES.) 

Flycatchers. (Family- Tyrannid^:.) 

Doubtless, every order of birds has had its day when, 
if it was not a dominant type, it was at least sufficiently 
near it to be considered modern ; and as we review what 
is known to us of that great series of feathered forms, 
from the Archseopteryx to the Thrushes, we can real- 
ize how varied has been the characteristic avifauna of 
each succeeding epoch from the Jurassic period to the 
present. 

ISTow has come the day of the order Passeres, the 
Perching Birds ; here belong our Flycatchers, Orioles, 
Jays, Sparrows and Finches, Vireos, Swallows, Warblers, 
Wrens, Thrushes, and many others. A recent authority 
classifies birds in thirty -four orders, but fully one half of 
18 



122 KINGBIRD. 

the thirteen thousand known species are included in the 
single order Passer es. The North American members 
of this order are so alike in more important structural 
details that they are placed in but two suborders, the 
suborder Glamatores^ containing the so-called Songless 
Perching Birds, and the suborder Osci?ies, containing the 
Song Birds. The Flycatchers are the only members of 
the suborder Glamatores in Eastern North America. 
They differ from the Oseines, or true Song Birds, in 
always having ten fully developed primaries, in having 
the tarsus rounded behind as well as in front, and chiefly 
in the anatomy of the syrinx, or voice-producing organ. 
In the Oscines this possesses four or five distinct pairs of 
intrinsic muscles, while in the Glamatores it has less than 
four pairs of muscles, and is not so highly developed. 

Flycatchers are the Hawks of the insect world. Their 
position when resting is erect, and they are constantly on 
the watch for their prey, which is captured on the wing, 
with a dexterity Hawks may well envy. The bill is 
broad and flat and the gape large, as in other fly-catching 
birds. After darting for an insect, as a rule, they return 
to the same perch, a habit which betrays their family 
affinities, though it is occasionally practiced by some 
other birds. 

Among our Eastern Flycatchers the Kingbird un- 
doubtedly deserves first rank. In books he is sometimes 
Kingbird called the Tyrant, but the name is a 

Tyrannm tyrannus. libel. The Kingbird is a fighter, but 
Plate xxx. Yie is not a bully, and gives battle only 
in a just cause. His particular enemy is the Crow, and 
during the nesting season each Kingbird evidently draws 
an imaginary circle about his home within which no 
Crow can venture unchallenged. From his lookout on 
the topmost branch of a neighboring tree the Kingbird 
darts forth at the trespasser, charging him with a spirit 




trnttX Sitot) lhomj>SofK 



Plate XLIV. P AGE 141. 

VESPER SPARROW. 

Length, 6-10 inches. Upper parts grayish, black, and brown; breast 
and sides streaked with black and brown ; belly white ; lesser wing- 
coverts chestnut ; outer tail-feathers more or less white. 



CRESTED FLYCATCHER. , 123 

and fearlessness which no bird can withstand. It is a case 
of " right makes might," added to a very dexterous nse of 
wings and bill. The Crow, if he be experienced, turns 
tail at once and, beyond protesting squaivks, makes no 
attempt to defend himself. But the Kingbird is deaf to 
pleas for mercy; he too has had experience, and well 
knows that only his own watchfulness has saved his eggs 
or young. Far in the distance he relentlessly pursues his 
foe, leaving him only when he has administered a lesson 
which will not be forgotten. Then he returns to his post 
and, with crest erect and quivering wings, gives voice to 
cries of victory. 

Bee-keepers accuse the Kingbird of a taste for honey- 
bees, but the examination, made by Prof. Beal, of two 
hundred and eighteen Kingbirds' stomachs shows that 
the charge is unfounded. Only fourteen stomachs con- 
tained remains of bees, most of which were drones, while 
sixty per cent of the Kingbirds' food was found to con- 
sist of injurious insects. 

Kingbirds winter in Central and South America, re- 
turning to us in the spring about May 1, and remaining 
until September. Their nest is a compact, symmetrical 
structure of weed stalks, grasses, and moss, lined with 
plant down, fine grasses, and rootlets, and is usually placed 
at the extremity of a limb about twenty feet from the 
ground. The eggs, three to Hve in number, are white, 
spotted with chocolate. 

The Crested or Great Crested Flycatcher is, as a rule, 

not so common as the Kingbird, and its habits prevent it 

Crested Flycatcher, from being so easily observed. King- 

MyiarcJius crinitus. birds can be seen whenever heard, but 

Plate xxxi. y OU raa y k ear t k e G rea t cr est' s whistle 
many times before you see the whistler. Generally he 
lives in the woods high up in the trees, but he is also 
found in old orchards. His call, like an exclamation, 



124 PHCEBB. 

rings out above all other birds' notes. What ! he seems 
to say, and, as though hearing something which not only 
surprised but amused him, follows this call with a chuck- 
ling whistle. 

The Greatcrest arrives from the south about May 7, 
and remains until September. Nesting is begun early in 
June, a hollow limb being the home usually selected. In 
collecting its nesting materials, the bird displays a very 
singular trait, and gives evidence of the stability of habit. 
With rare exceptions it places a bit of cast snake-skin in 
its nest. Various reasons have been advanced to account 
for this singular habit, but none of them is satisfactory. 
Recently Lieutenant Wirt Robinson has discovered that 
one of the commonest and most generally distributed spe- 
cies of this genus in South America places cast snake-skin 
in its nest, and it is well known that the Arizona Crested 
Flycatcher follows the same custom. The habit is there- 
fore widespread, and is common to birds living under 
greatly varying conditions. Rather than consider it of 
especial significance in each species, it seems more reason- 
able to believe that it is an inheritance from a common 
ancestor, and has no connection with the present sur- 
roundings of at least those species living so far from the 
center of distribution of this tropical genus as our Myi- 
archnis crinitus. 

The Phoebe is domestic ; he prefers the haunts, or, at 

least, handiwork of man, and when not nesting on a beam 

Phoebe m a barn, shed, or piazza, selects the 

Sayomis phoebe. shelter of a bridge for a home. Here 

Plate xxxii. ne pl aces n i s nest of moss and mud ; a 
structure of generous proportions, for the Phoebe's family 
may number five or six. 

Flycatchers, because of the nature of their food, usu- 
ally make extended migrations. For the same reason 
they arrive late in the spring and depart early in the 




Page 142. 



Plate XLV. 

CHIPPING SPARROW. 
Length, 5-35 inches. Summer plumage, forehead black; crown bright 
chestnut ; back black, brown, and gray ; under parts grayish white ; bill 
black. Winter plumage, similar, but crown like back ; bill brownish. 



LEAST FLYCATCHER. . 125 

fall ; but the Phoebe is an exception to this rule. Not 
only does he winter north of the frost line, but he comes 
to us as early as March 20 and remains until October. 

The Phoebe owes his name to his song of pewitphcebe, 
pewitphoebe, a humble lay uttered between vigorous 
wags of the tail. This tail-wagging is a characteristic 
motion, and also accompanies the Phoebe's call-note, 
pee, pee, which it utters at intervals. 

The Least Flycatcher shares the Phoebe's preference 

for the vicinity of houses and is most often found nesting 

in our shade or fruit trees. The nest, 

Least Flycatcher, ,., -. -,3, , , . , „ 

j? ., . . unlike the Phoebe s, is composed 01 

Empidonax, minimus. ' * 

plant-down, fibers, and rootlets, and is 
placed in the crotch of a tree. The eggs resemble the 
Phoebe's in being white. 

It is difficult to describe our smaller Flycatchers so 
that even when in the hand they may be satisfactorily 
identified, and it is quite impossible to describe them so 
that from color alone they may be recognized in the field. 
Fortunately, the calls of our commoner species are so 
unlike that, when learned, there .will be no difficulty in 
naming their authors. v 

To say that the Least Flycatcher is iive and a half 
inches long, olive-green above and grayish white below, 
does not aid one in distinguishing it from several of its 
cousins ; but when I add that its call is a snappy chebec, 
chebec, the bird will be known the first time it is heard. 
It is this call which has given the bird its common 
name. 

The Chebec comes to us in the spring, about April 25, 
and remains until September. 

You will rarely find two members of the same family 
with more different dispositions than those of the King- 
bird and Wood Pewee. Their natures might symbolize 
war and peace, so combative is the Kingbird, so gentle the 



126 WOOD PEWEE. 

Pewee. As so often happens among birds, their voices 

are in keeping with their temperaments. The soft, 

Wood Pewee dreamy pee-a-wee or pee-a-wee peer of 

Contopus virem. the Pewee is as well suited to its char- 

Piate xxxiii. acter as the harsh, chattering cries of 

victory are to the Kingbird's. 

The Pewee is the last of our more common Fly- 
catchers to come from the South, arriving about May 10, 
and, like the Chebec, remaining until October. It is less 
social than either the Chebec or the Phoebe. Forests 
are its chosen haunts, but occasionally it is found on well- 
shaded lawns and roadsides. 

The Pewee's nest rivals the Hummingbird's in beauty. 
It is a coarser structure, composed of fine grasses, rootlets, 
and moss, but externally is thickly covered with lichens. 
Usually it is saddled on a limb from twenty to forty feet 
above the ground. The eggs, three or four in number, 
are white, with a wreath of dark brown spots around the 
larger end. 



Larks. (Family Alaudid^e.) 

This family contains the true Larks, birds with long 
hind toe nails, and a generally brown or sandy colored 
plumage, the Skylark being a typical species. There are 
some one hundred species of Larks, but of these only the 
Horned Lark and its geographical varieties are found 
in this country. 

The variation in color shown by the Horned Lark 
throughout its range is remarkable. From the Mexican 

Homed Lark tableland northward to Labrador and 

otocoHs aipestris. Alaska no less than eleven different 

Plate xxxiv. geographical races are known, each one 

reflecting the influence of the conditions under which it 

lives, and all intergrading one with another. Only two of 




Plate XL VI. Page 143. 

WHITE-THKOATED SPARROW. 

Length, 6-75 inches. Adult, lores and bend of wing yellow; crown 
black and white ; back chestnut-brown, black, and buff ; throat white ; 
breast and sides grayish ; belly white. Young, similar, but crown more 
like back ; yellow markings duller. 



HORNED LARK. 127 

these races are found in the eastern United States, the 
Horned Lark and the Prairie Horned Lark. The former 
visits us in the winter; the latter occurs at all seasons, 
but during the summer is found only in certain regions. 
At this season it inhabits the upper Mississippi Valley, 
whence it extends eastward through northwestern Penn- 
sylvania and central 'New York to western Massachu- 
setts. From October to April it may be found with the 
Horned Lark as far south as South Carolina. The two 
birds differ in size and color. The Horned Lark's wing 
averages 4*27 inches in length, the Prairie Lark's wing 
averages but 4 - 08 inches in length ; the f ormers forehead 
and eye-line are yellow, the latter's white. 

Horned Larks are eminently terrestrial, rarely if 
ever choosing a higher perch than a fence. When on 
the ground they do not hop, but walk or run. When 
flushed they take wing with a sharp, whistled note, but 
often return to the place from which they started. When 
nesting, they may be found in fields, pastures, and plains 
in scattered pairs, but during the winter they are asso- 
ciated in flocks, which resort to the vicinity of the sea- 
coast or large open tracts in the interior. The nest is, 
of course, built on the ground. The eggs, three or four 
in number, are pale bluish or greenish white, minutely 
and evenly speckled with grayish brown. 

The Horned Lark, like its famous relative and many 
other terrestrial species, sings while on the wing, soaring 
high above the earth, and often repeating its song many 
times before alighting. The effort is worthy of better 
results, for the bird's song is simple and unmusical. 



128 CROWS AND JAYS. 



Crows, Jays, etc. (Family Corviwe.) 
There are systematise who think that the members 
of this family should hold the plaee usually assigneTthe 
Thrushes, at the head of the class Ave,. Leayiifout of 
the case anatomical details whose value is disputed we 
mightobject to a family of songless birds being given fos 

zt Vu/;^ r hose leading cWter £ P°« 

2 D0 f' f, I 1 " 16 "J ™ and <% s ™y, from a musical 
standpoint he considered songless, no one can deny their 
great vocal powers. Song, after all, does not imply S 
rank in bird-life, and some of the sweetest singers ^n S 

o ZthT Sn ^ and the Ti — and ^oi 52 

SonJ ? Blrdi 11161 '^ ^ ^ m6mberS ° f the * M " <* 

If, however, the relative intelligence of the two fam- 

oZ V ) & l T aCC0Unt ' there «« be no doubt Z 
^-^ fully deserve to be considered the most highly 
developed of birds. How many tales are told of the 

t;ZTcZf tLe *""" ** **S *** 

Of the two hundred members of this family, six in . 
habit eastern North America, by far the most common 

American Crow, ^l* 8 the Cr0W - ^° °™ of our birds 
Corns americanm. ls better known, and still, how io-norant 

tUt h* 1 * 7 S ^ ° f hi8 Ways! T ani not sur e 

that he does not know more about onrs. We have not 

"n thTtT'n ^^ n' f ° r ' ^ Spite ° f the C ™* opt- 
ion that the Crow's calls are restricted to caw, he has an 

extended vocabulary. I am not aware that he ever 

ascends to the height of a love song, but that he can 

converse fluently no one who has listened to him will 

question. Of the variants of caw, each with its own 

significance, there seems no end; but if yon would be 




Plate XLVII. Page 144. 

FOX SPABKOW. 
Length, 7-25 inches. Upper parts, wings, and tail bright reddish brown ; 
back and head mixed with a browner color ; under parts white and bright 
reddish brown. 



AMERICAN CROW. . 129 

impressed with the Crow's eloquence you must hear him 
when, in the fancied privacy of his own flock or family, 
he discusses the affairs of the day. His notes then are 
low, and so varied in tone that one can not doubt their 
conversational character. 

During the winter Crows assemble in large flocks 
containing many thousand individuals, who nightly re- 
turn to some roost, which perhaps has been frequented 
for years. In March they begin to pair and the nest is 
constructed early in April. It is a bulky affair of 
sticks, lined chiefly with grapevine bark, and is placed in 
a tree, usually about thirty feet from the ground. The 
four to six eggs are bluish green, thickly marked with 
shades of brown. 

Crows share with Hawks the reputation of being 
harmful birds. That they do much damage in the corn- 
field is undeniable, but, after the examination of nine 
hundred Crows' stomachs, Dr. Merriam, of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, states that the amount of good 
done by the Crow in destroying grasshoppers, May 
beetles, cutworms, and other injurious insects, exceeds 
the loss caused by the destruction of corn. Moreover, if 
the corn be tarred before planting, the Crows will not 
touch either the kernel or young sprout. The corn 
should first be soaked in water overnight, and then 
placed in a vessel containing enough soft tar to coat each 
kernel. It should then be rolled in plaster of Paris or 
wood ashes, so that it can be more easily handled.* 

The Blue Jay, in his uniform of blue and white, is so 
brightly colored, so large (he is nearly twelve inches in 
length), and often so noisy, that every one knows him. 



* See Barrows and Sehwarz, The Common Crow, Bulletin No. 6, 
United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology 
and Mammalogy. 
19 



130 BLUE JAY. 

Like the Crow, lie is with us throughout the year. Dur- 
ing the summer he is not very common, and is remark- 
ably quiet, but in September and Octo- 
r, U .! ay ' * * b er migrants arrive from the North, and 

Cyanocitta cnstata. ~ ' 

the birds are then abundant in bands. 
These bands roam about the country like a lot of school- 
boys out chestnutting, pausing wherever they find acorns 
and chestnuts abundant, or leaving their feast to worry 
some poor Owl whose hiding place they have discovered. 

The Blue Jay's best friend could not conscientiously 
call him a songster, but as a conversationalist he rivals 
the Crow. I have yet to discover a limit to his vocab- 
ulary, and, although on principle one may ascribe al- 
most any strange call to the Blue Jay, it is well to with- 
hold judgment until his loud, harsh jay ! jay ! betrays 
the caller's identity. Not content with a language of 
his own, he borrows from other birds, mimicking their 
calls so closely that the birds themselves are deceived. 
The Red-shouldered, Bed-tail, and Sparrow Hawks are 
the species whose notes he imitates most often. 

The Blue Jay nests in the latter part of May, build- 
ing a compact nest of rootlets in a tree ten to twenty 
feet from the ground. The eggs are pale olive-green 
or brownish ashy, rather thickly marked with varying 
shades of cinnamon-brown. 



Orioles, Blackbirds, etc. (Family Icterid^.) 

The popular names of many of our birds were given 
them by the early colonists because of their fancied re- 
semblance to some Old World species. The fact that 
some of these names are incorrect and misleading has 
been pointed out scores of times, but they are now as 
firmly fixed as the signs of the zodiac. 




Plate XLVIII. Page 145. 

JUNCO. 

Length, 6-25 inches. Male, upper parts, throat, and breast slate-color; 
belly and outer tail-feathers white. Female, similar, but plumage more 
or less washed with brownish. 



BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 131 

Thus the Robin is not a Robin but a true Thrush, 
the Meadowlark is not a Lark but a Starling, and the 
Orioles are not Orioles at all, but members of a distinc- 
tively American family having no representatives in the 
Old World. This family contains one hundred and fifty 
species, of which nearly one third belong in the genus 
Icterus. The prevailing colors of the birds of this genus 
are orange and black, hence their resemblance to the true 
Orioles (genus Oriohos) of the Old World. 

Our Baltimore Oriole is a worthy representative of a 

group remarkable for its bright colors. It is to these 

Baltimore Oriole same colors that the bird owes not only 

icterus gaibuia. its generic but its specific designation, 

Plate xxxv. orange and black being the livery of 
Lord Baltimore, after whom the bird was named. 

The Baltimore Oriole, or, as it is also called, Firebird, 
Golden Robin, or Hangnest, winters in Central America, 
and in the spring reaches the latitude of New York city 
about May 1. I always look for it when the cherry trees 
burst into blossom, and at no other time does its beauti- 
ful plumage appear to better advantage than when seen 
against a background of white flowers. To the charm of 
beauty it adds the attraction of song, a rich, ringing 
whistle, which can be more or less successfully imitated, 
when the bird immediately responds, challenging the 
supposed trespasser on his domain. 

The Baltimore's nest is a bag about five inches deep 
and three inches in diameter, woven of plant-fibers, 
thread, etc., and suspended from the terminal portion of 
a limb, generally of an elm tree. The four to six eggs 
are white, singularly scrawled with fine black lines, and 
with a few spots or blotches. 

The Orchard Oriole is neither so common nor so 
gayly dressed as his brilliantly colored relative, and, being 
fonder of orchards than lawns and elm-shaded highways, 



132 ORCHARD ORIOLE. 

is not so well known. The female is especially easy to 
overlook, her suit of plain olive-green closely harmoniz- 

Orchard Oriole, in g with } he leaves in color ' Young 
icterus spurius. males at first exactly resemble her, but 
Plate XXXVI. .q^ following spring return, wearing 
their father's black cravat. In this plumage they might 
readily be taken for another species, so little do they re- 
semble their parents in appearance. The adult chestnut 
and black plumage is not fully acquired until the sec- 
ond, or perhaps even the third spring. 

The Orchard Oriole winters in Central America, and 
in the summer is found throughout the eastern United 
States from the Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts. It 
arrives from the South about May 1, and is one of the 
first birds to leave in the fall, rarely being seen after 
September 1. Nesting is begun late in May. The nest 
is pensile, but not so deep as that of the Baltimore Oriole, 
having more the proportions of a Vireo's nest. It is 
composed entirely of freshly dried greenish grasses, and 
is suspended from near the extremity of a branch at a 
height of fifteen to twenty feet. The three to five eggs 
are bluish white, spotted, blotched, and scrawled with 
black. 

The song of the Orchard Oriole resembles that of his 
orange-and-black cousin, but is far richer in tone and 
more finished in character. 

The male Redwing, with his black uniform and scar- 
let epaulets, is a familiar inhabitant of our marshes, but 
Ited-winged many who know him are not acquainted 

Blackbird, with his very differently attired mate. 
Ageiaws phoemceus. <§i ie wears a costume which above is 
black streaked with buff and rust-color, and below is 
striped dingy black and white, and is much more retiring 
than her conspicuous husband. Her place is low in the 
bushes or among the reeds near the nest with its pale 




Plate XLIX. Page 146. 

TKEE SPAEEOW. 

Length, 6 -35 inches. Crown bright chestnut ; back black, reddish brown, 
and buffy ; under parts grayish ; sides washed with brownish ; a 
blackish spot in the center of the breast. 



PURPLE GRACKLE. . 133 

blue eggs, so singularly scrawled with black. He perches 
on the topmost branch of a neighboring tree, and doubt- 
less supposes he is guarding his home below, when in 
truth he is advertising his treasure to every passer-by. 

The Redwing's liquid Jcong-quer-ree is pleasantly 
suggestive of marshy places, but it is his early spring 
music for which we should chiefly value him. The first 
Robins or Bluebirds are somewhat unreliable signs of 
spring. They are such hardy birds that it requires very 
little encouragement from a February sun to send a few 
skirmishers northward. We can not be sure whether 
they represent the advance guard or are individuals who 
have had the courage to winter with us. But when early 
in March the Redwings come, then we know that the tide 
of the year has turned. With perennial faith in the sea- 
son they come in flocks of hundreds, singing their spring- 
time chorus with a spirit that March winds can not sub- 
due. 

About the time the Redwings come, late in February 

or early in March, we may expect the Purple Grackles 

Purple Grackle or Crow Blackbirds. They migrate in 

quiscalus quiscuia. large flocks, and their chorus singing 

Plate xxxvii. j g q U jte as inspiring as the springtime 

concerts of the Redwing. There are two kinds of Crow 

Blackbirds, known as the Purple Grackle and the Bronzed 

Grackle. The former has iridescent bars on the back 

and in the Northern States is found only east of the 

Alleghanies and south of Massachusetts ; the latter has 

the back shining, brassy, bronze, without iridescence, and 

in the nesting season inhabits the country west of the 

Alleghanies and north of Connecticut. The females of 

both species are smaller and duller than the males. 

Grackles are among the few of our land birds who 
live in flocks all the year. They pass the winter and mi- 
grate in larger companies, but when resting are in smaller 



134: BOBOLINK. 

bands or colonies. They generally select a pine grove r 
often choosing one in a cemetery, park, or other locality 
where they will not be disturbed. This may result in a 
scarcity of food when the young are born, but, rather 
than abandon a locality which experience has proved to 
be safe, they make long journeys in search of food for 
their nestlings. By watching the old birds one may then 
easily learn where they live. Their flight is direct and 
somewhat labored, and when going only a short distance 
they " keel " their tail-feathers, folding them upward 
from the middle, an action which renders Grackles con- 
spicuous and easily identifiable when on the wing. On the 
ground they strut about with a peculiar walk, which, in 
connection with their yellowish white eye, adds to the 
singularity of their appearance. 

The Grackle's nest is a bulky, compact structure of 
mud and grasses. It is usually placed in trees, twenty to 
thirty feet from the ground, but the bird may sometimes 
nest in bushes or even in a Woodpecker's deserted hole. 
The three to six eggs are generally pale bluish green, 
strikingly spotted, blotched, or scrawled with brown and 
black. But one brood is raised, and when the young 
leave the nest they roam about the country in small 
bands, which later join together, forming the enormous 
flocks of these birds we see in the fall. 

The Bobolink's extended journeys and quite differ- 
ent costumes have given him many aliases. Throughout 
his breeding range, from New Jersey to Nova Scotia, 

„,.,., and westward to Utah, he is known 

Bobolink, . - ~ , ,. , T 

Bolichonyx while nesting as the Bobolink. In 

oryzivorus. July and August he loses his black, 
Plate xxx vni. bu ^ and white we dding dress, and 

gains a new suit of feathers resembling in color those 
worn by his mate, though somewhat yellower. This is 
the Keedbird dress, and in it he journeys nearly four 




Plate L. Pages 146, 147. 

KEDPOLL. 

Length, 5 -30 inches. Adult male, crown bright red ; back brownish black 
and grayish ; throat black ; under parts white, streaked with black ; 
breast pink. Adult female and young, similar, but no pink on breast. 

SNOWFLAKE. 

Length, 6 -90 inches. Upper parts brown and black ; wings and tail black 
and white ; under parts white ; breast and sides brownish. 



BOBOLINK. 135 

thousand miles to his winter quarters south of the Ama- 
zon. 

The start is made in July, when he joins nocks of 
his kind in the northern wild-rice (Zizania aquatica) 
marshes. Late in August he visits the cultivated rice 
fields of South Carolina and Georgia, and it is at this sea- 
son we so often hear the metallic tinh of passing migrants. 
The rice is now in the milk, and the Ricebirds, or Orto- 
lans, as they are called in the South, are so destructive to 
the crop that it is estimated they directly or indirectly 
cause an annual loss of §3,000,000. Some birds linger 
as far north as New York until October 1, but by this 
time the leaders of the south-bound host have reached 
Cuba, where they are called Chamber go. From Cuba 
they pass to the coast of Yucatan, and thence southward 
through Central America or to the island of Jamaica, 
where, because of their extreme fatness, they are known 
as Butterbirds. From Jamaica they go to the mainland, 
either of Central America, or by one continuous flight of 
four hundred miles to northern South America, thence 
traveling southward to their winter home. 

The northward journey is begun in March or April, 
and about the 25th of the latter month the vanguard 
reaches Florida. It is composed only of males, now 
called Maybirds, all in full song. Let any one who 
knows the Bobolink's song imagine, if he can, the effect 
produced by three hundred birds singing together ! 

About May 1 Bobolinks reach the vicinity of New 
York city. The females soon follow the males, and 
early in June the birds are nesting. This is the glad 
season of the Bobolink's year. For ten months he has 
been an exile, but at last he is at home again, and he 
gives voice to his joy in the jolliest tinkling, rippling, 
rollicking song that ever issued from bird's throat. 

In the fields made merry by the music of Bobolinks one 



136 MEADOWLARK. 

is almost sure to find Meadowlarks. They are strong- 
legged walkers, and spend all their time while feeding 
Meadowlark on tne ground. Like all terrestrial, 
Stumeiia magna, protectively colored birds, they often 
Plate xxxix. ^ ^ esca p e observation by hiding in 
the grasses rather than by flying. When perched in a 
tree or other exposed position, they are among the shyest 
of onr smaller birds, rarely permitting a near approach ; 
but when they fancy themselves concealed on the ground 
they sometimes " lie as close " as Bob-whites. When 
flushed they fly rapidly, alternately flapping and sailing, 
showing as they fly the white feathers on either side of 
their tail. These feathers are the Meadowlark's best field 
character. They are very conspicuous when he is on the 
wing, and, when perching, if he is alarmed or excited, he 
exposes them by nervously flitting or twitching his tail. 
This movement is generally accompanied by a single 
nasal call-note, which changes to a rolling twitter as the 
bird takes wing. Neither of these notes give any indi- 
cation of the sweetness of the bird's song, a high musical 
whistle, clear as the note of a fife, sweet as the tone of a 
flute. It is subject to much variation both individual 
and local, but the song I oftenest hear in northern New 
Jersey may be written : 



When singing, the birds usually perch in an exposed po- 
sition, generally choosing the topmost branches of a tree 
or a dead limb. 

The Meadowlark's nest is placed upon the ground, as 
a rule, in a tuft of grasses which is arranged to form a 
dome over it. The eggs, four to six in number, are laid 
about May 15, and in color are white, spotted or speckled 
with cinnamon or reddish brown. 




Pages 147, 148. 



Plate LI. 

AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 

Length, 6-20 inches. Adult male, dull red; back brownish ; wings and 
tail blackish. Adult female and young, greenish ; back more or less 
mottled with brownish; the under parts grayish. 
PINE GROSBEAK. 

I Length, 940 inches. Adult male, rose-pink; back brownish; lower 

belly gray ; wings and tail brownish black. Adult female and young, gray ; 
crown, upper tail-coverts, and breast washed with deep yellow. 



COWBIRD. 137 

Occasionally Cowbirds are seen during the winter 
near New York city ; but, as a rule, they retire farther 

Cowbird south at this season, and are first ob- 

Moiothrus ater. served there in the spring about March 

Plate XL. 20. They do not come in large flocks, 

but singly or in small bands. The male may now be 
seen perched in an exposed position on a treetop, calling 
his long-drawn-out, glassy MucJc, tse-e-e. Later, when 
wooing the female, he utters a curious, gurgling note, 
resembling the sound made by pouring water rapidly 
from a bottle, and accompanying it by motions which 
suggest extreme nausea. We often see these birds feed- 
ing near cattle in the pastures, always in small flocks, for 
they do not pair nor even construct a nest, the female lay- 
ing her egg in the nest of another and generally smaller 
species. Few birds seem aware of the imposture, and 
not only do they incubate the egg but they may attend 
to the demands of the young Cowbird at the expense of 
their own offspring, who sometimes die of starvation. 
Even after leaving the nest the young parasite continues 
its call for food, and when seeing a Maryland Yellow- 
throat, or some other small bird feeding a clumsy fledg- 
ling twice its size, one wonders it does not detect the de- 
ception. The better we know birds the more strongly 
are we impressed with their individuality. To one who 
has no friends in feathers it seems pure fancy to endow 
some insignificant " Chippy " with human attributes ; but 
in reality there are as clearly defined characters among 
birds as among men. To be convinced of the truth of 
this statement we have only to compare the Cowbird, a 
thoroughly contemptible creature, lacking in every moral 
and maternal instinct, with the bird who constructs a well- 
made nest, faithfully broods her eggs, and cares for her 
young with a devotion of which mother love alone is 

capable. 

20 



138 SONG SPARROW. 



Spaerows, Finches, etc. (Family Fringillid^e.) 

This, the largest family of birds, contains between Rye 
hundred and fifty and six hundred species, and is repre- 
sented in all parts of the world except the Australian re- 
gion. Sparrows are the evergreens among birds. When 
the leaves have fallen from the chestnut, oak, and maple, 
the hemlock, pine, and cedar are doubly dear. So, when 
the Flycatchers, Warblers, and Thrushes have left us, the 
hardy Sparrows are more than usually welcome. Feed- 
ing largely on seeds, which their strong, stout bills are 
especially fitted to crush, they are not affected by the 
changes in temperature which govern the movements of 
strictly insectivorous birds. 

Some species are with us throughout the year, some 
come from the South in early spring and remain until 
snow falls, others come from the far North to pass the 
winter ; so that at no season of the year are we without 
numbers of these cheery birds. Fortunately, some of our 
best songsters are members of this family. Their music 
is less emotional than that of the Thrushes, but it has 
a happier ring — the music for every day. 

It is the Song Sparrow who in February opens the 

Song Sparrow, season of song, and it is the Song 

Meiospizafasdata. Sparrow who in November sings its 

Plate xli. closing notes ; nor, except during a part 

of August, has his voice once been missing from the choir. 

His modest chant always suggests good cheer and 
contentment, but heard in silent February it seems the 
divinest bird lay to which mortal ever listened. The 
magic of his voice bridges the cold months of. early 
spring ; as we listen to him the brown fields seem green, 
flowers bloom, and the bare branches become clad with 
softly rustling leaves. 




Plate LII. Page 148. 

AMEEICAN GOLDFINCH. 
Length, 5-10 inches. Adult male in summer, crown black; rest of body 
yellow ; wings and tail black and white. Adult female and males in winter, 
upper parts grayish brown; crown yellowish; under parts soiled 
whitish ; throat yellow. 



SWAMP SPARROW. 139 

You can not go far afield without meeting this singer. 
He is not only our commonest Sparrow, but one of our 
commonest birds. Generally you will find him on or 
near the ground at the border of some undergrowth, 
and if there be water near by, preferably a meadow 
brook, his presence is assured. When flushed he will 
doubtless make for the nearest thicket, " pumping " his 
tail, as Thompson expressively says, in describing his 
somewhat jerky flight. Now he questions you with a 
mildly impatient chimp or trinlc, a call-note not to be 
mistaken for that of any other species, when once you 
have learned it. Equally diagnostic is the bird's spotted 
breast with one larger spot in its center. 

The Song Sparrow's nest is usually placed on the 
ground, but sometimes a bush may be chosen for a nest- 
ing site. The eggs, four or five in number, are bluish 
white, thickly marked with reddish brown. The Song 
Sparrow rears three broods each year, the nesting season 
lasting from May to August. 

The Swamp Sparrow, a well-named cousin of the 

Song Sparrow, resembles his relative in his fondness for 

Swamp Sparrow * ne vicinity of water and habit of tak- 

Meiospiza georgiana. ing refuge in low cover. He is a true 

Plate xlii. marsh or swamp bird, and is particu- 

larly abundant in large marshes. His call is an insig- 
nificant cheep, while his song, is a simple, sweet, but rather 
monotonous tweet-tiveet-tweet, repeated many times and 
occasionally running into a trill. 

The Swamp Sparrow nests from northern Illinois 
and Pennsylvania northward to Labrador. Its nest and 
eggs resemble those of the Song Sparrow. It is migra- 
tory in the northern part of the range, and is rare in win- 
ter north of southern New Jersey. 

Both the Song and Swamp Sparrow are, as we have 
seen, birds of the lowlands, though the latter also inhab- 



140 FIELD SPARROW. 

its higher ground, but the two Sparrows now to be men- 
tioned are birds of the uplands, rarely if ever living in 
low, wet places. 

An old hillside pasture, dotted with young cedars or 

clumps of bushes, in which he may place his nest, is the 

Field Sparrow, favorite home of the Field Sparrow. 

Spizeiia pusiiia. Here you may look for him early in 

Plate xliii. April. He is a rather shy bird, who 
will fly some distance when alarmed, and then alight on 
a bare twig near or at the top of some bush or sapling. 
Yery different this from the Song Sparrow's way of div- 
ing into a bush. 

From his exposed position he watches you and gives 
you an equally good chance to watch him. Note the 
whitish, unstreaked breast, the reddish brown or sorrel 
crown, the gray face and whitish ring about the eye, and 
especially the pale brownish or flesh-colored bill. These 
are all good marks, and if now you can hear him sing his 
identity will be settled without question. His song is one 
of the most pleasing I know. It is very simple but very 
expressive, a sweet, plaintive cher-wee, cher-wee, cher-wee, 
cheeo dee-e-e-e-e, which goes straight to one's heart. It is 
sung most freely after sunset, and is in keeping with the 
peacefulness of the evening hour. At this time, too, the 
bird seems inspired to more than usual effort, and its or- 
dinary song is often so elaborated and prolonged as to be 
scarcely recognizable. 

The song season ends in the latter part of August, 
and, although the birds are with us until November, I 
have rarely heard them sing in the fall. 

The Vesper Sparrow, Grass Finch, or Bay-winged 
Bunting — for he bears all three names — prefers, more 
open grounds than the Field Sparrow selects. There is 
something free and spirited about this bird and its song 
which demands space for its proper development. No 




Plate LIII. Page 149. 

PUKPLE FINCH. 

Length, 6-20 inches. Adult male, rose-pink ; back brownish ; lower belly- 
white ; no white in wings. Adult female and young, upper parts streaked 
brownish and grayish ; under parts white, streaked with brownish ; 
bill rounded on top ; a tuft of bristly feathers over the nostrils. 



VESPER SPARROW. 141 

swamp or thicket will do for him, but in great broad fields 
he is at home. If a roadway leads through his haunts, 

Vesper Sparrow, y ou ma J often see him on tlie ground 
Pooccetes gramineus. ahead of you, and when he flies the 

Plate xliv. white feathers shown on either side of 
his tail will give you an excellent clew to his identity. 
Probably he will fly on ahead a little way and alight 
again in the road, or a longer flight may lead him to a 
neighboring fence or the upper branches of a more dis- 
tant tree. It is from positions of this kind that he most 
often sings. With him song is evidently a matter of im- 
portance. He can not, like many birds, sing between the 
mouthful s of a meal, but ascending to his perch he gives 
perhaps half an hour entirely to music, resting motionless 
between the intervals of each song. 

It is impossible to satisfactorily describe this song. 
It resembles that of the Song Sparrow, but is finer and 
wilder. It opens with one low note, followed by two 
higher ones, while the Song Sparrow begins with three 
notes, all of the same kind. 

The Vesper Sparrow is migratory, coming to us with 
the Field Sparrow early in April and remaining until 
November. Its nest is placed on the ground, and the 
bluish or pinkish white speckled eggs are laid early in 
May. 

It is strange, is it not, that the only bird we all detest 

should also be the only one who insists on sharing our 

homes with us. The House or English 

ouse parrow, Sparrow, is a product of the times ; a 

Passer dornesticus. r 7 r ? 

remarkably keen-witted bird, who, like 
a noxious weed, thrives and increases where a less hardy 
species could not exist. 

This harsh- voiced little gamin soon detects and avoids 
anything like a systematic attempt to entrap him, and, 
being productive past all belief, seems likely to completely 



142 CHIPPING SPARROW. 

overrun the land. He was introduced into this country 
in 1851, and in 1870 was found only in the cities of the 
Atlantic States. Now he has spread over the greater 
part of the United States and Canada. 

If he were restricted to the cities we should have only 
his never-ceasing, maddening chatter and our soiled walls 
to complain of ; but he has invaded not only the towns 
and villages and the neighboring houses, but visits also 
our grain fields and fruit orchards, our woods and marshes. 
No effective method for his extermination has been de- 
vised, and I fear we must accept the Sparrow as a penalty 
for the shortsightedness and ignorance which permitted 
us to meddle with the laws of Nature. 

If we except this ever-present nuisance the Chippy 
is the most domestic of our Sparrows. He seems thor- 

Chipping Sparrow, ou g% at home about our doorsteps ; a 
Spizeiu sociaiis. contented, modest little bird who ap- 
Piate xlv. parently tries hard to believe in the 

goodness of human nature, even though he meets with 
but little encouragement. One wonders why he has not 
long ago given up the attempt to make friends with us, 
so rarely do we show any appreciation of his advances. 
The house cat is Chippy's chief enemy. Crouching and 
crawling, waiting and watching, she misses no opportunity 
to pounce on an unsuspecting bird. It is surprising that 
any escape. But each spring, about April 10, the Chippy 
comes back to us after a winter in the cotton, corn, and 
broom-sedge fields of the South, and soon we hear his 
unpretentious, monotonous chippy -chippy -chippy, many 
times repeated, and occasionally running into a grasshop- 
perlike trill. 

About a month later we may find further evidence of 
his too often misplaced trust in a neat, hair-lined nest 
built in the vines on the veranda or a neighboring tree. 
The eggs are unexpectedly pretty, a bright blue or bluish 




Plate LIV. Page 150. 

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. 

Length, 8-10 inches. Adult male, crown and back black; rump white; 
throat black; breast rose-red ; belly white. Adult female, upper parts 
dark brown and buff ; a white line over eye ; under parts buffy, streaked 
with brownish ; under wing-coverts orange. 



WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 143 

green, spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with cinnamon- 
brown or blackish markings. 

Up to this time the Chippy has given us a good oppor- 
tunity to see his chestnut cap and black forehead, but 
when the nesting season is over he will change these for 
a cap to match his coat, and with others of his kind gather 
in old, weedy fields, remaining there until cold weather 
drives him southward. 

About the time of the first frost a new Sparrow will 

appear in the hedgerows and thickets and the under. 

. , , growth of the woods. The white patch 

"^XTiirtB-'tiiroa/tGcl 

Sparrow, on ms throat may aid in his identifica- 
ZonotHcUa albicoiiis. tion as the White-throated Sparrow, a 

Plate XL vi. Northern bird who in the summer 
nests from northern New England northward, and in 
winter is found from southern New England to the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

He is disposed to be rather quiet for several days 
after his arrival, and, beyond a few low notes addressed 
to his companions, has little to say ; but if you whistle 
to him even a poor imitation of his song, nearly every 
bird in the company will hop up from the tangle of 
branches and, perching on the outer twigs, look for the 
friends who called. Perhaps some may essay a tremulous 
response, but for a week or more they will make few at- 
tempts to sing. Later, you will hear the sweet, plaintive 
notes that give to this bird the name Peabody-bird. 

The White-throat's call-notes are a low tseep and a 
very characteristic sharp chink, which has been well 
likened by Mr. Bicknell to the sound of a marble cut- 
ter's chisel. At this season the White-throats roost to- 
gether in flocks of varying size, and if you chance to be 
near their home at bedtime you will hear this chink note 
given as a "quarriers' chorus." Finally, as the gloom 
deepens, it will cease, and from the dark depths of the 



144 FOX SPARROW. 

thicket will come only the cozy, contented twitterings of 
the birds wishing one another good night. 

The interest with which one examines a flock of White- 
throated Sparrows is intensified by the probability of 
White-crowned finding their distinguished relative the 

Sparrow, White-crown. In the Mississippi Val- 
ZonotricUa ley he is often common, but in the 

ucop rys. Atlantic States he is sufficiently rare 
to be a character of importance. 

The White-crown differs from the White-throat in 
having no white on the throat, which, like the breast, is 
gray, and in having the space before the eye black in- 
stead of yellow or white. In the fall his crown is brown, 
with a paler line through its center. 

Near New York city I look for the White-crown 
in September and October, and again about May 15. 
Thompson describes its song as " like the latter half of 
the White-throat's familiar refrain, repeated a number 
of times with a peculiar sad cadence and in a clear, soft 
whistle." 

Some fine day about the middle of March you may 
hear a song so unlike any you have ever heard, that be- 

Fox Sparrow ^ ore tne sm g er ceases you will know 
Passerdia Uiaca. you are on the verge of a discovery. 

Plate XL vii. The song is loud, exceedingly sweet ; 
and varied. Its richness of tone seems to accentuate the 
bleakness of the bird's surroundings. It is a song for 
summer, not for leafless spring; but heard at this sea- 
son it seems all the more attractive, and with pleasurable 
excitement you hasten toward the second growth, near 
the border of which the bird is perched. His large size 
and bright reddish brown upper parts readily distinguish 
him from other Sparrows, and, in connection with his 
spotted breast, give him a general resemblance to a Hermit 
Thrush, for which bird he is sometimes mistaken ; but a 




Plate LV. Page 151. 

TOWHEE. 

Length, 8-35 inches. Adult male, upper parts, throat, and breast black; 
belly white ; sides reddish brown. Adult female, similar, but black re- 
placed by brownish. 



JUNCO. 145 

glance at his short, stout bill at once shows his family rela- 
tionships, and you should have no difficulty in identifying 
him as the Fox Sparrow. 

A month later he will leave us for his summer home 
in the far North, but in October and November his 
ringing notes may again be heard as he pauses a day or 
two on his journey southward. 

After the Fox Sparrows go, our bird -life is reduced to 

its winter elements — that is, permanent residents and win- 

Junco *er visitants. Of the latter the Junco 

junco hyemaiis. or Slate-colored Snowbird is the com- 

piate XL viii. monest and most generally distributed. 
Although we call this bird a winter visitant, he is with 
us nearly eight months in the year, arriving late in Sep- 
tember and remaining until early May. 

The Junco is one of the birds whose acquaintance can 
be easily made. His suit of slaty gray, with its low-cut 
vest of white, is not worn by any other of our birds ; and 
while some species show white outer tail-feathers in flight, 
the Junco' s seem to be more than usually conspicuous. 

Except when nesting, Juncos associate in loose flocks 
of from ten to fifty. Generally you will find them feed- 
ing on the ground near evergreens, into which, when dis- 
turbed, they will fly with a twittering note. If they are 
excited by your appearance you will hear a sharp, kissing 
call ; but if unalarmed they will utter a rapidly repeated 
chew-chew-chew, expressive of the utmost contentment. 
In March and April, before leaving for their summer 
home in northern New England or the crests of the 
Alleghanies and Catskills, the Juncos sing a simple trill 
or low, twittering warble. Modest in manner and attire, 
there is nothing of especial interest in the Junco's habits, 
and only bird-lovers can understand what a difference his 
presence makes in a winter landscape. It brings a sense 

of companionship ; it is a link between us and Nature. 
21 



146 TREE SPARROW AND REDPOLL. 

The bird's cheery twitter is as welcome as a raj of sun- 
light on a cloudy day. 

With the Juncos we may often find a company of 
Tree Sparrows or Winter Chippies. They resemble our 

Tree Sparrow, familiar Chipping Sparrow, but the 
Spizeiia monticoia. blackish dot in the center of their 

Plate xlix. breasts is a good distinguishing mark. 
Then, too, the true Chippies all leave . for the South in 
November, while the Winter Chippies come in October 
and remain until April. 

Tree Sparrows are sociable birds, with apparently the 
best of dispositions. They are usually found in small 
companies, each member of which seems to have some- 
thing to say. Watch them feeding on an old weed stalk 
left uncovered by the snow. It bends beneath the weight 
of half a dozen birds, but, far from attempting to rob one 
another, they keep up a conversational chatter bespeaking 
the utmost good fellowship. Too-ld-it, too-ld-it, each one 
calls, and I have only to remember this note to bring 
clearly to mind a bright winter morning with the fresh 
snow crystals sparkling in the sunshine, and in the dis- 
tance a tinkling chorus of Tree Sparrows at breakfast. 

Another winter associate of the Junco's, and an inti- 
mate friend of the Tree Sparrow's, is the Redpoll, Red- 
Redpoll P°ll Linnet, or, as he is sometimes 
AcantUs Unaria. called, Red -capped Chippy. The Red- 
PiateL. p ]j nes t s in the far North, and the 
extent of his southern journeys depends very much upon 
the supply of food he finds in his winter wanderings. 
When there are seeds in abundance north of the United 
States, we do not see many of these birds, but if the 
larder fails they may come into New England in. great 
numbers, and a few may venture as far south as Yirginia. 
One can not tell, therefore, wdien to expect them, but it 
is well to be on the lookout from November to March. 




'nestS^tonJbf-fosi 




Plate LVI. Page 155. 

DICKCISSEL. 

Length, 6 -00 inches. Adult male, back black, chestnut, and grayish ; lesser 
wing-coverts bright chestnut ; chin white ; throat black ; breast yellow ; 
belly white. Adult female, upper parts streaked black and grayish ; 
throat white ; breast yellowish, with black streaks ; belly white. 



SNOWFLAKE AND CBOSSBILL. . 147 

With the Tree Sparrows and Juncos, Redpolls feed on 
the seeds of plants left uncovered by the snow, and they 
also include birch buds in their fare. 

None of our winter birds better illustrate the nock- 
ing habit than the Snowflakes, Snow Buntings, or, as they 

Snowflake are a ^ s0 called, White Snowbirds. With 

piectrophenax nivalis, a uniformity of movement which would 
Plate L. p^ ^ sname the evolutions of the best- 

drilled troops, they whirl over the snow-clad fields, wheel- 
ing to right or left, as though governed by a single 
impulse. Suddenly they swing downward into a weedy 
field, alighting on the snow or ground, where they run — 
not hop about — like little beach birds. Sometimes, it is 
said, they sing on the wing while with us, but their usual 
note is a low chirp. They are terrestrial birds, and, al- 
though they may often perch on fences or buildings, are 
rarely seen in trees. 

Snowflakes nest within the Arctic Circle, and, like 
other of our winter birds that come from the far North, 
are irregular in their movements. As a rule they do not 
wander much south of Long Island and northern Illinois, 
but occasionally they go as far as Virginia and Kansas, 
and are thus among the possibilities which add so much 
to the pleasure of winter days in the field. 

The Crossbill is a possibility at any season. None of 

our birds is more erratic in its migrations. As a rule, it 

is found in the Middle States only be- 
American Crossbill, J 

Loxia eurvirostra tween November and March, but I 
minor, have seen it in Central Park, New 
York city, as late as May. In the 
higher parts of the Alleghanies and in northern New 
England it is resident throughout the year. Crossbills 
usually wander as far south each winter as Connecticut, 
but beyond this are of irregular occurrence. 

They feed almost entirely upon the seeds of pines, and 



148 PINE GROSBEAK. 

are not often seen far from coniferous trees. Their sin- 
gular bill might, at first glance, be considered misshapen, 
but if you will watch a Crossbill push his crossed mandi- 
bles beneath the scale of a pine cone, and with a quick 
twist force it off and secure the seed at its base, you will 
readily admit that for the bird's purposes his bill could 
not be easily improved. 

■ In hunting for Crossbills it is a good plan to look 
through the woods for falling scales of pine cones, and 
when you see a shower of them whirling softly down- 
ward it behooves you to learn the cause of their descent. 
The birds often follow them to the ground, to secure the 
seeds which have dropped there. 

Crossbills fly in compact flocks, and often utter a 
sharp, clicking note while on the wing. Their song is 
sweet and varied but not loud. 

Pine Grosbeaks are among our rarer winter visit- 
ants. They come as far south as Massachusetts in vary- 
Pine Grosbeak m o numbers, and occasionally reach 
Pinicoia enudeator. Connecticut, but south of this point 
Plate Li. are 0; £ ver y i n f re q Uen t occurrence. At 

irregular intervals Pine Grosbeaks become abundant dur- 
ing the winter in New England, when, because of their 
size, they attract general attention. They usually resort 
to coniferous trees, upon the seeds of which they feed, 
but they also eat berries and buds, and are said to be espe- 
cially fond of the fruit of the staghorn sumach. 

No one seeing the Goldfinch or Yellowbird in his 

summer costume of gold and black would imagine that so 

Goldfinch dainty a creature could brave the storms 

Spinus tristis. of winter ; but late in the season, when 
Plate lii. n - g | 10me i jf e j s ended, he changes the 

gay wedding dress for a plainer suit, and joins the ranks 
of winter birds. 

I wish that every one knew the Goldfinch. His gen- 




:d 



Plate LVII. Page 161. 

CEDAK WAXWING. 

Length, 7-20 inches.. Grayish brown; upper tail-coverts gray; lower 
belly yellowish ; end of tail yellow ; secondaries sometimes with red, 
sealing-wax-like tips ; stripe through face black. 



GOLDFINCH. 149 

tie ways and sweet disposition are never-failing antidotes 
for discontent. One can not be long near a flock of 
these birds without being impressed by the refinement 
which seems to mark their every note and action. They 
show, too, a spirit of contentment from which we may 
draw more than a passing lesson. Hear me, hear me, 
dearie, they call as they feed among the weeds or on the 
birch buds, ami, no matter how poor the fare, they seem 
thankful for it. The seeds of the dandelion, thistle, and 
sunflower are among their favorites ; and if you would 
attract Goldfinches as well as some other birds, devote a 
corner of your garden to sunflowers. 

The meal finished, the birds launch into the air, and to 
the tune of a cheery per-chic-o-ree, per-ch\c-o-ree, go 
swinging through space in long, bounding undulations. 

In April the males regain their bright colors, but they 
are evidently believers in prolonged courtship, and, al- 
though the nuptial dress is acquired so early, housekeep- 
ing is apparently not thought of until June. Then a neat 
home of bark and fine grasses, thickly lined with plant 
down, is placed in a bush or tree, five to thirty feet from 
the ground, and in it are laid three to six pale, bluish- 
white eggs. 

Now the song season has reached its height. Chorus 
singing has been abandoned. Each bird has become an 
inspired soloist, who, perched near his home or flying in 
broad circles about it, pours forth a flood of melody. It 
is an exceedingly attractive song, sweet and varied and 
suggesting a Canary's, but still is no more like it than a 
hothouse is like a tropical forest. 

Creak, creak, the notes are clear but faint, and may 
Purple Finch come from any place beyond arm's reach. 
Carpodacuspurpureus. They are the Purple Finch's flight- 
Plate Lin. ca ]] s . one m ight think his wing-joints 
needed oiling. Alighting on the topmost twig of a 



150 PURPLE FINCH. 

forest tree, lie utters a low, wild, questioning whistle. 
With crown-feathers slightly erect he seems alert and 
restless, and before we can fairly see him is off again to 
parts unknown. 

Purple Finches, in small companies, may often be 
seen feeding near the ground with Goldfinches, but if 
alarmed they soon return to the tree tops. The old males 
may be known by their pinkish red color, which is bright- 
est on the head and breast, and fades to brownish on the 
lower back and tail and white on the belly. The young 
males and females are Sparrowlike in appearance, the 
upper parts being dark grayish brown, the under parts 
white, streaked with dusky. A whitish line passing over 
the eye is a characteristic mark. 

During the winter Purple Finches are irregularly dis- 
tributed throughout most of the Eastern States, but in 
summer they are not found south of northern New Jer- 
sey. They now become more social and may nest in our 
gardens. Generally a coniferous tree is selected, and the 
nest of twigs, grasses, and rootlets is placed at a height of 
about twenty feet. The eggs, four to six in number, are 
blue, spotted with dusky about the larger end. 

Count yourself fortunate if a Purple Finch makes his 
home near yours. He may appropriate a few buds and 
blossoms, but he will repay you with music and leave you 
his debtor. His song is a sweet, flowing warble ; music 
as natural as the rippling of a mountain brook. 

Some morning early in May you may meet the Eose- 

breasted Grosbeak, just returned from a winter's sojourn 

in South America. Perhaps his fame 

Rose-breasted^^ w m have preceded him, when you will 

Zameiodia ' in a measure be prepared for his charms 

ludovidana. f son g an d plumage, and so miss the 

Plate liv. k eener pleasure of surprise ; but to me 

he appeared as a revelation, and after fifteen years I still 




Plate LVIII. Page 162. 

NOKTHEBN SHEIKE. 

Length, 10-30 inches. Adult, upper parts gray; tail black and white; 
under parts white, with blackish bars ; lores grayish ; ear-coverts black. 
Young, similar, but plumage washed with brownish. 



TOWHEE. 



151 



find it difficult to believe that, "unknown to me, this beau- 
tiful creature could long have been an inhabitant of my 
woods. 

The Grosbeak prefers young second growths, with a 
liberal proportion of oaks. In one of these trees he will 
doubtless build his nest, a structure so lightly made that 
one can almost see the blue, spotted eggs from below. 
The male is not only an ardent lover but an admirable 
husband, and, unlike most brightly attired birds, shares 
with his mate the task of incubation, and, it is said, 
sings while on the nest. His mate is so unlike him in 
color that few would suspect their relationship. She 
suggests an overgrown female Purple Finch, with the 
eye-stripe especially prominent ; but if you should chance 
to see the under surface of her wings, you would find 
that they were lined with gold. However, the call-notes 
of both sexes are alike — a sharp, characteristic peek, which 
you will have no difficulty in recognizing after you have 
learned it. 

The Grosbeak's song will remind you of a Robins, 
but it is in truth a much higher type of bird music. 
It is a joyous carol, expressive of a happy disposition 
and a clear conscience. 

The Towhee, or Chewink, is an important member of 
any bird community. He comes early — April 20 may 

Towhee ^ 11C ^ ^ m w ^h us — an( l ne stays late, 

Pipilo sometimes remaining until November 1. 

erythropHMlmus. During this period there is not an hour 

Plate LV. -p xi •, , n -, 

oi the day when you can not rind a 
Chewink if you know how to look for him. At midday 
you will perhaps have to summon him by a whistled to- 
whee from the depths of his bushy home on the border of 
a wood or thicket ; but he will soon respond, and with a 
fluff -fluff of his short, rounded wings, fly jerkily up to 
inquire what's wanted. 



152 INDIGO BUNTING. 

Some birds, such as the Red-eyed Vireo, can sing just 
as well while hunting food as at any other time ; in fact, 
I do not remember ever seeing a Red-eye pause long 
in its search for insects — song and search go on together. 
But with the Chewink singing is a serious matter, not to 
be associated with the material question of food ; so, when 
singing, he abandons the dead leaves he has been tossing 
about so vigorously, and, mounting a perch, becomes an 
inspired if not gifted musician. Sweet bird, sing, sl friend 
writes it, the " sing" being higher, sustained, and vibrant. 
To this there is often a refrain which suggests an an- 
swering, tremulous I'll try. 

Matins or vespers over, the Chewink returns to 
the ground and resumes his occupation of scratching 
among the leaves for breakfast or supper, as the case 
may be. 

The Chewink' s nest is placed on the ground, often in 
dried grass, beneath a tangle of running wild blackberry. 
The eggs, four or five in number, are white, finely and 
evenly speckled with reddish brown. 

There are three birds who sing not only through the 

heat of midsummer but are undaunted by the warmth of 

a midday sun. They are the Wood 

n igo un mg, p ewee the Red-eyed Yireo, and the In- 

Passerina cijanea. ' «/ ' 

digo-bird or Bunting. The Pewee and 
Yireo, singing dreamily from the shady depths of a tree, 
carry the air to the hummed accompaniment of insects; 
but the Bunting, mounting to an upper branch, gives 
voice to a tinkling warble, more in keeping with the 
freshness of early morning than the languor of noon. 
July, July, summer-summer's here; morning, noontide, 
evening, list to me, he sings so rapidly that human tongue 
can scarce enumerate the words fast enough to keep pace 
with him. The Indigo-bird is in song when he comes to 
us from the South early in May, but it is not until other 




Plate LIX. Pages 164, 165. 

BED-EYED VIEEO. 

Length, 6-25 inches. Crown gray, bordered by black and white; back, 
wings, and tail olive-green ; under parts white. 

YELLOW-THEOATED VIEEO. 
Length, 5-95 inches. Crown and back greenish yellow; rump gray; 
breast bright yellow ; belly white; wing-bars white. 



CAEDINAL. 153 

singers have dropped from the chorus that his voice be- 
comes conspicuous. 

Not far away his mate is doubtless sitting on her blu- 
ish white eggs in a nest low down in the crotch of a bush. 
He in his deep indigo costume may be easily identified, 
but she is a dull brownish bird, about the size of a Ca- 
nary, sparrowlike in appearance, though with unstreaked 
plumage, and a difficult bird to name, even when you 
have a specimen in your hand, while in the bush, if silent, 
she is a puzzle. But she is far too good a mother not to 
protest if you venture too near her home, and her sharp 
pit or peet usually calls her mate, whom you will recog- 
nize at once. 

The Cardinal is about the size of a Towhee, with 
plumage which, except for a black throat, is almost 
wholly rosy red. Seeing a mounted 
n ? . 7 . \. 7 . Cardinal, one might imagine that he 
was a conspicuous bird in life and easy 
to observe ; but the truth is that, in spite of his bright 
colors, the Cardinal is a surprisingly difficult bird to see. 
You may often hear his sharp, insignificant tsip without 
catching a glimpse of the caller, so well can he conceal 
himself. His olive-brown mate is, of course, even more 
difficult to find, and when you do see her you would 
hardly suspect the relationship were it not for her actions 
and the striking crest worn by both sexes. 

The Cardinal's song is a rich, sympathetic whistle. 
His mate also sings at times, and I carry in my memory 
a musical courting I once observed, in which a pair of 
these beautiful birds were the actors. The song begins 
with whee-you, whee-you, long-drawn notes, which are 
followed by a more rapid hurry, hurry, hurry / quick, 
quick, quick, and other notes difficult of description. 
The Cardinal is a bird of the Southern rather than of 

the Northern States, and is rarely seen north of New 
22 



154 LARK FINCH. 

York city. It is, however, a permanent resident through- 
out its range, and to one who associates it with magnolias 
and yellow jessamine it seems strangely out of place amid 
snowy surroundings. 

The Cardinal builds its nest about four feet from the 
ground in thickets, laying three or four eggs, which are 
white or bluish white, speckled and spotted with grayish 
or reddish brown. 

In the Mississippi Valley and westward there are sev- 
eral members of this family who are rarely found east 

Lark Finch °f the Alleghanies. Prominent among 

Chondestes them is the Lark Finch, a handsome 

grammacus. ^ r( ^ a k ou t s { x anc j a quarter inches 

long, with ear-coverts and sides of the crown chestnut, 
the back grayish brown streaked with black, the outer 
tail-feathers tipped with white, and the under parts 
white, with a single black spot in the center of the 
breast. 

This is a migratory bird, arriving in southern Illinois 
about the middle of April and remaining until September 
or October. Mr. Ridgway, in his Birds of Illinois, says 
that its favorite resorts are " fertile prairies and meadows 
adjoining strips or groves of timber. In Illinois it evinces 
a special fondness for cornfields, in which it builds its 
nest at the foot of the stalks, while the male sings from 
the fence or the top of a small tree by the roadside." 

Its song, the same writer continues, is " composed of 
a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, in- 
terspersed with emotional trills. At the beginning the 
song reminds one somewhat of that of the Indigo-bird 
(Passerina cyanea), but the notes are louder and more 
metallic, and their delivery more vigorous. Though 
seemingly hurried, it is one continuous gush of sprightly 
music ; now gay, now melodious, and then tender beyond 
description — the very expression of emotion." 







Plate LX. Page 167. 

BLACK AND WHITE WAKBLER. 

Length, 5 -25 inches. Adult male, upper parts, breast, and sides black and 
white; belly white. Adult female, similar, but with less black on under 
parts. 



DICKCISSEL. 155 

Some thirty or forty years ago the Dickcissel, or 

Black-throated Bunting, was a locally common bird in 

Dickcissel tne Middle Atlantic States. Now it is 

Spiza americana rarely found east of the Alleghanies, 

Plate lvi. anc j eyen ^ n ^ e ^[iggiggippi Valley its 

range is becoming restricted, and it is of irregular distri- 
bution. 

It migrates in large flocks, the males in the spring 
being several days in advance of the females. About 
May 1 it reaches the latitude of Chicago, and by the mid- 
dle of the month is mated. The nest is placed on the 
ground, or in low trees or bushes ; the eggs, four or five 
in number, are pale blue. 

In the work previously quoted from, Mr. Ridgway 
writes of this species : " While some other birds are 
equally numerous, there are few that announce their 
presence as persistently as this species. All day long, 
in spring and summer, the males, sometimes to the num- 
ber of a dozen or more for each meadow of considerable 
extent, perch upon the summits of tall weed stalks or 
fence-stakes, at short intervals, crying out : See, see — 
Dick, Dick Cissel, Cissel ; therefore ' Dick Cissel ' is well 
known to every farmer's boy as well as to all who visit 
the country during the season of clover blossoms and wild 
roses, when ' Dame Nature ' is in her most joyous mood." 

Tanagers. (Family Tanagrid^:.) 

The Tanagers, numbering some three hundred and 
fifty species, are found only in America. Their home 
is in the tropics, where they are among the most abun- 
dant of birds. But two species reach the eastern United 
States, the Summer Redbird of the South and our Scar- 
let Tanager, both worthy representatives of a group 
of birds which in brilliancy of color rival even the Hum- 



156 SCARLET TANAGER. 

mingbirds. The male Scarlet Tanager, with fire -red body 
and jet-black wings and tail, is the most brightly plum- 
aged of our birds. Seen against a 
Scarlet Tanager j* bac w onnd H^Ht seems to radi- 

ate from his glowing feathers. But 
the female, clad in dull olive-green, is so in harmony 
with the color of her surroundings that she is not easily 
discovered. The young male at first resembles his mother, 
but has blackish wings and tail, and does not acquire the 
full scarlet and black plumage until the following spring. 
After the nesting season is over the male exchanges the 
nuptial dress, which has rendered him so conspicuous, for 
a costume similar to that worn by the young male. 

The Scarlet Tanager spends the winter in Central and 
South America with his numerous relatives, and in the 
spring reaches the latitude of New York city about May 
5, remaining until October. It frequents both high and 
low woods, but prefers rather open growths of white oak. 
Its nest is usually placed on the horizontal branch of an 
oak limb. The three or four eggs are pale greenish blue, 
with numerous reddish brown markings. 

The Tanager' s call-note is a characteristic chip-churr ; 
his song is not unlike the Robin's, but is not so free and 
ringing. Mounting to the topmost branch, often of a 
dead or partially dead tree, he sings, Look-up, way -up, 
looh-at-me, tree-top^ and with frequent pauses repeats the 
invitation. 

Swallows. (Family Hirundinidje.) 

Primarily, Swallows are remarkable for their power 
of flight. Their long, bladelike wings show how well they 
are fitted for life in the air ; their small feet, on the 
other hand, are of little service except in perching, and 
give evidence of the effect of disuse (see Fig. 6). 




Plate LXI. Page 168. 

MYRTLE WARBLER. 

Length, 5-65 inches. Winter plumage, crown-patch, rump, and sides of 
breast yellow; back brown and black; under parts black and white. 
Summer plumage, similar, but upper parts gray and black; more black 
on under parts. 

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. 
Length, 5-10 inches. Upper parts yellowish green; face brighter; 
breast black; belly white. 



SWALLOWS. 



157 



The aerial ability of Swallows accounts for their wide 
distribution, the eighty known species being represented 
in all parts of the world. Only six of them inhabit the 
northeastern States, but they are so active and so easily 
observed, that they rank among our most abundant and 
best-known birds. 

Swallows are eminently insectivorous. The Tree Swal- 
low is known to feed on bayberries when its usual fare is 
wanting, but, with this exception, it is doubtful if any 
but insect food passes a Swallow's bill from one year's 
end to another. Recalling now the activity of Swallows, 
which both necessitates a large supply of food and pro- 
cures it, and we must realize that these birds are incal- 
culably beneficial. 

Both the feeding habits and powers of flight of Swal- 
lows are such as their structure would lead us to expect, 
but when we examine their nests we are amazed at the 
architectural skill of builders so poorly provided with 
tools. The large mud pocket of the Barn Swallow, the 
clay retort of the Cliff Swallow, and the long burrow 
which the Bank Swallow excavates, are surely not the 
kind of homes we should expect these small-billed, weak- 
footed, dainty creatures to construct. We will note, too, 
that these feathered architects are quick to perceive and 
take advantage of the new and favorable conditions for 
nest-building found about the home of man. 

The Bank, Rough-winged, and Tree Swallows, and 
the Purple Martin, lay white eggs ; the eggs of the Barn 
and Cliff Swallows are speckled with cinnamon, olive, and 
reddish brown. 

It is when nesting that Swallows best show one of 
their strong characteristics — their sociability. Many birds 
live in flocks during part of the year, but separate in pairs 
when nesting ; but most Swallows live on terms of such 
intimacy that their nests seem to be merely apartments in 



158 SWALLOWS. 

one great dwelling. A photograph of part of a colony 
of Cliff Swallows in Montana shows one hundred and 
forty nests, nearly all of which adjoin one another. 

The songs of Swallows are hnmble efforts, but are so 
expressive of the happy dispositions of the birds, and so 
associated with scenes with which they are inseparably 
connected, that the merry twitterings of these birds are 
as dear to ns as the voices of friends. 

The sociability of Swallows does not end with the 
nesting season, as it does with many birds that are then 
brought into communities by force of circumstances. 
When the young take wing, Swallows begin to collect 
in nocks, which gradually unite, and in August and Sep- 
tember form assemblages containing millions of individ- 
uals. They generally make their headquarters in some 
large marsh, where they roost in the reeds and grasses, 
but they also resort to trees. Early in the morning they 
scatter over the country in small bands, flying at a con- 
siderable height, and during the day we may often see 
them feeding over fields and ponds or resting on wayside 
telegraph wires. Late in the afternoon they begin to re- 
turn to their roosts. At first they fly slowly and circle 
about to feed, but as the light fails they fly with increas- 
ing swiftness, and the last comers shoot through the dusk 
with incredible rapidity. 

These remarks apply with equal truth to all our Swal- 
lows ; it remains now to briefly mention the characters 
by which they may be distinguished specifically. The 
four common species are figured in the frontispiece, 
which clearly shows most of their diagnostic marks, 
which are : Tail forked, Barn Swallow ; forehead whit- 
ish, rump rusty, Cliff Swallow ; a band across the breast, 
plumage without metallic colors, Bank Swallow ; breast 
pure white, Tree Swallow. 




Plate LXII. Page 169. 

REDSTART. 

Length, 5.40 inches. Adult male, band in wings ; base of tail and sides 
of breast deep salmon; belly white; rest of plumage black. Adult 
female and young, similar, but salmon replaced by yellow; upper parts 
grayish brown; under parts white; breast yellowish. 



SWALLOWS. . 159 

The Barn Swallow is the most generally distributed 
of our Swallows, its habits of nesting in outbuildings 
making it at home wherever they offer 
Cheiidon it a suitable nesting place. It is about 

erythrogaster. seven inches long ; the upper parts and 
sides of the breast are steel-blue, the 
forehead and throat chestnut, the rest of the under parts 
paler ; the tail deeply forked and marked with white. Its 
long tail is a most efficient rudder, permitting the abrupt 
turns which make its flight more erratic than that of any 
other of our Swallows. It skims low over the fields, or 
darts through the village streets with a rapidity and indi- 
rectness which I never witness without astonishment. 

The Barn Swallow arrives from its winter home in 
the tropics about April 15 and remains until late in 
September. Its nest is generally placed on a beam in 
a barn or other outbuilding, and is composed of mud 
and grasses lined with feathers. 

The Cliff or Eave Swallow is less generally distributed 

than the Barn Swallow. It nests in colonies, placing its 

««M»« n rows of mud tenements under cliffs in 

Cliff Swallow, 

Petrocfieiidon the W est and beneath the eaves of barns 

luni/rons. m the East. It becomes much attached 

(Frontispiece.) ^ ^ locaHtj) and when un di S turbed 

returns to it year after year, arriving from the South 
about May 1, and remaining until late September. It is 
six inches long ; the forehead is whitish, the crown and 
back steel-blue, the rump rusty ; the throat chestnut with 
a blackish area ; the belly white. 

Like the Cliff Swallow, the Bank Swallow nests in 
colonies, and is very local during the breeding season. A 

Bank Swallow sandbank facing a stream or pond is 
CUvicoia riparia. often chosen for a home. Into it a 

(Frontispiece.) tunnel two or three feet in length is 
bored, and at its end a nest of grasses and feathers is built. 



160 TREE SWALLOW. 

The Bank Swallow winters in the tropics and reaches 
us in the spring about April 20, remaining until late Sep- 
tember. It is the smallest of our Swallows, measuring 
only five inches in length, and is the only one, except the 
Rough-winged Swallow, which has no metallic coloring 
in its plumage, the back being plain brownish gray, the 
under parts white, with a clearly defined brownish gray 
band across the breast. The Rough-wing is a more south- 
ern bird, being rare north of southern Connecticut. It 
resembles the Bank Swallow, but differs chiefly in having 
the whole breast brownish gray. It nests in holes in 
banks, and also about stone bridges, trestles, and similar 
structures. 

Though very generally distributed, there are large 
areas within the breeding range of the Tree Swallow 

Tree Swallow where it is known only as a migrant. 
Tachycineta bicoior. In the wilder part of its range it nests 

(Frontispiece.) in no n ow trees . m the more settled 

portions it uses bird-boxes. During recent years, as Mr. 
Brewster has remarked, the always-present House Spar- 
row has pre-empted the former abodes of the Tree Swal- 
low, so that it no longer nests about our homes ; but as 
a migrant its numbers are undiminished, and it is prob- 
ably our most abundant Swallow. 

Being the only Swallow to winter in the eastern 
United States, the Tree Swallow is the first to arrive in 
the spring, coming to us from Florida early in April. It 
is also the last of its family to leave us in the fall, often 
remaining near New York city until October 20. 

Immature birds have the upper parts brownish gray 
instead of shining steel-blue, as in the adult, but in either 
plumage the bird may be known by its pure white under 
parts, which have given to it the name of White-bellied 
Swallow. 

In the northern United States Martins are very local. 




Plate LXIII. Page 170. 

OVEN-BIKD. 

Length, 6-15 inches. Crown reddish brown, bordered by black; back, 
wings, and tail olive-green; under parts black and white. 



CEDAR WAXWING. . 161 

They have long since abandoned their habit of building in 

hollow trees, and now nest only about houses or in lawns 

where gourds or boxes are erected for 

Purple Martin, their occupation> To these they return 

year after year, arriving m the spring 
about April 25 and remaining until September. The 
male is uniform steel-blue, and appears black in the air ; 
the female is grayish, tinged with steel-blue above ; the 
breast is gray, the belly white. This is the largest of 
our Swallows, measuring eight inches in length. 



Waxwings. (Family Ampelid^e.) 

One of the two species of Waxwing is a bird of the far 

North ; the other, our Cedar Waxwing, is found through - 

Cedar Waxwing, out North America. Waxwings pos- 

Ampeiis cedrorum. sess in an unusual degree two charac- 

piate L\ II. teristics which are not supposed to be 

associated — sociability and silence. JSTone of our birds is 
more companionable, none more quiet. In their fondness 
for one another's society they seem to delay the pairing 
season, and long after other birds have gone to house- 
keeping they are still roving about in flocks. Finally, 
late in June, they settle down and build a nest of generous 
proportions, often in some fruit tree, about ten feet from 
the ground. The three to five eggs are pale bluish gray 
or putty-color, spotted with black or brownish black. 

Waxwings fly in close rank and alight as near each 
other as the nature of their perch will allow. They sit 
very still, like little Parrots or Doves, but often raise and 
lower their crests, and perhaps whisper a fine lisping note, 
which is prolonged into a louder call — a string of beady 
notes — as they take wing. 

Their fare varies with the season — cedar berries, straw- 
berries, cherries, both cultivated and wild, the berries 



162 NORTHERN SHRIKE. 

of the woodbine, sour gum, and others being taken in 
turn. 

In August the Waxwing shows no mean gifts as a 
flycatcher, while as a destroyer of the cankerworm he is 
especially beneficial, repaying us with interest for the 
fruit he may have appropriated earlier in the season. 

The Waxwing's wide range and ability to withstand 
great extremes in temperature are doubtless due to the 
ease with which it adapts itself to a change in fare. It 
nests from Virginia to Labrador, and winters from Massa- 
chusetts to Costa Rica. 



Shrikes. (Family Laniid^.) 

The marked difference in the temperament of birds is 

emphasized by finding among the song birds, who feed 

Northern Shrike on ^ ru it? seeds, and insects, a bird who 

Lanius boreaiis. in his position and choice of food is 

Plate lviii. truly hawklike. Shrikes are solitary, 
never assembling in flocks or associating with other birds. 
Their days are days of waiting, varied by a pounce upon 
some unfortunate field mouse or dash into a flock of un- 
suspecting Sparrows. But, while they resemble the Hawks 
in these respects, their manner of capturing their prey dif- 
fers from that of their larger prototypes. The Shrike 
has a Hawk's bill but a Sparrow's foot, and, lacking the 
powerful talons which make so deadly a weapon, he cap- 
tures his prey with his strong mandibles. Possibly it may 
be due to his comparatively weak feet that he pursues the 
singular custom of impaling his prey on some thorn or 
hanging it from a crotch where he can better dissect it. 

The Shrike, or Butcher-bird, as he is also called, be- 
longs to a large family, but, with the exception of his 
smaller cousin the Loggerhead, he is the only one of the 
two hundred known species found in America. He nests 




Plate LXIV. P AGE 171. 

MAKYLAND YELLOW-THKOAT. 

Length, 5-30 inches. Adult male, face black, bordered by ashy; back 
olive-green; breast yellow; belly paler. Adult female, similar, but no 
black on face; under parts paler. 



VIREOS. . I63 

within the Arctic Circle, and in October journeys south- 
ward, rarely as far as Virginia, and remains in the United 
States until April or May. 

The Loggerhead Shrike is common in the Southern 
States and Mississippi Valley, whence it has apparently 
extended eastward through central .New York to Ver- 
mont and Maine. It nests in these States, but southward 
to Maryland is known only as a rare migrant — a unique 
case in distribution. It differs from the Northern Shrike 
in being an inch and a quarter smaller, in the absence of the 
wavy bars on the breast, which is pure white, and in hav- 
ing jet-black lores and a narrow black line across the fore- 
head at the base of the bill. Its song is creaky and un- 
musical, but the song of the Northern Shrike, as de- 
scribed by Mr. Brewster, is " really pleasing," and " not 
unlike that of the Thrasher, but more disconnected and 
less loud and varied." 

Vireos. (Family Vireonid^e.) 

Vireos are gleaners, and are to be distinguished from 
other tree-inhabiting, greenish birds of the same size by 
their habit of carefully exploring the under surface of 
leaves and various nooks and corners in the bark and 
foliage, while the more active Warblers are flitting about 
the terminal twigs and the Flycatchers are swinging out 
in aerial loops at passing insects. 

They are highly musical little birds, having songs and 
call -notes which may be quickly recognized once they 
are known. The nests and eggs of our four summer- 
resident species are so much alike that they are to be 
known only when accompanied by their owners. The 
White-eyed Vireo inhabits thickets and, as a rule, builds 
nearer the ground than the arboreal Red-eyed, Yellow- 
throated, and Warbling Vireos. The nests are small, 



164: 



RED-EYED VIREO. 



pouchlike affairs of strips of pliable bark, bits of dead 
wood, plant-fibers, tendrils, fine grasses, etc., firmly inter- 
woven and suspended from the arms of a forked twig. 
The eggs are white, with a few black or brownish black 
spots, chiefly about the larger end. 

The Yireos are an exclusively American family, and 

number some fifty species, of which seven reach the 

Red-eyed Vireo northeastern-* States. Of these, by far 

Vireo olivaceus. the most common is the Red-eyed 

Plate lix. Yireo. There are few favorable locali- 

ties in eastern North America where, in the summer, 
one may not hear the cheerful song of this bird. Still, 
it is so well protected by the foliage, with which its 
plumage agrees in color, that to those whose ear is not 
attuned to the music of birds it is unknown. But listen 
near some grove of elms or maples, and you will not fail 
to hear its song — a somewhat broken, rambling recitative, 
which no one has described so well as Wilson Flagg, who 
calls this bird the Preacher, and interprets its notes as 
" You see it — you know it — do you hear me ? — do you be- 
lieve it ? " The Red-eye evidently has an inquiring mind, 
for he never tires of asking these questions. He not 
only ^ings all day, but seems unaffected by the heat of 
summer, and at midday is often the only bird to be heard. 
One would imagine that few birds had a more even tem- 
perament than this calm-voiced singer, but when annoyed 
he utters a complaining whang — a sound which is a good 
indication that something is wrong in the bird world. 

The Red-eye winters in the tropics, and reaches us in 
the spring about May 1, remaining until October 15. 

A near relative of the Red-eye's is the Warbling 
Yireo — a somewhat smaller bird, with a brown, in place 
of red eye, and without the black margin above the white 
eye-line which can be so easily seen in the Red-eye. The 
Warbling Yireo is the less common of the two, and is 




Plate LXV. Page 172. 

YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 

Length, 745 inches. Upper parts olive-green; breast yellow; belly 
white; lores black, bordered by white. 



VIREOS. . 165 

more local, showing a marked fondness for rows of elms 

— a taste which makes it a dweller in towns and villages. 

Its soi2g bears no resemblance to that 

Warbling Vireo, of the Red . eye being a continuous, 

vireo gilvus. . . , 

flowing warble, with an alto under- 
tone, suggestive of the song of the Purple Finch. 

The Warbling Yireo arrives from its winter home in 
the tropics about May 5, and remains until late in Sep- 
tember. 

Although the Yellow-throated Yireo is least like the 
Bed-eye in color, it resembles it the most closely in choice 

Yellow-throated ° f naimts and in son g- Still > tne Yellow- 

Vireo, throat's song is sung more deliberately 
Vireo flavifrons. and with longer pauses between the 
parts, while in tone it is deeper and 
richer. To my mind he says : " See me ; I'm here ; where 
are you ? " repeating the question in varying forms. 
Rarely he utters a beautiful, mellow trill which suggests 
the song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and he has also 
a caching, scolding note like that of the White-eye. 
The Yellow -throat's nest is often a more elaborate struc- 
ture than those of our other Yireos, being thickly cov- 
ered with lichens, which add greatly to its beauty. 

Like the two preceding species, the Yellow-throat 
winters in the tropics, and reaches the latitude of New 
York city about May 1. It does not, however, remain 
as long as its relatives, leaving us about September 15. 

The White-eyed Yireo is the genius of his family. 

What the Chat is among Warblers the White-eye is 

among Yireos — a peculiar, eccentric 

ite-eye ireo, ^.^ ^ gtron g character, who regards 

Vireo noveboracensis. ° ' ° 

mankind with disapproval, and will 
have none of us. Excellent reasons these why we 
should court his acquaintance. 

Unlike our other Yireos, the White-eye lives in the 



166 WABBLERS. 

lower growth ; thickets of cat -brier are his favorite 
haunts. He is therefore nearer our level, and seems to 
address us more directly than do the birds that call from 
the tree tops. If you linger near his home he will inquire 
your business with a vigorous " I say, who are you, eh ? " 
and if you do not take this hint to move on he will 
doubtless follow it with a scolding whose intent is unmis- 
takable. He has a variety of exclamatory calls, and 
sometimes may be heard softly singing a song composed 
largely of imitations of the notes of other birds. 

The White-eye can easily be known from the Red-eye 
and Warbling Vireos by the narrow white bands across 
the tips of its wing-coverts. In this respect it resembles 
the Yellow-throat, from which it is to be distinguished 
by its smaller size (length 5*25 inches), white iris, and 
white breast, only the sides of the breast being tinged 
with yellow. It winters from Florida southward, and 
reaches us in the spring about May 1, to remain until 
October. 

Warblers. (Family Mniotiltid^.) 

Warblers may be described as among our most abun- 
dant, most beautiful, and least-known birds. Of the 
thirty-five species regularly found in the northeastern 
States, only three or four are familiar to the casual ob- 
server. The presence of the others is unsuspected, and 
when some chance brings one of these exquisite little 
creatures into our lives, the event is attended by all the 
excitement of an actual discovery. We never forget our 
first Warbler. 

It is because we do not see Warblers unless we look 
for them that they are strangers to so many persons who 
go to the woods. They are, with some exceptions, small 
birds of limited vocal powers. They live in the tree tops, 




Plate LXYI. . Page 174. 

MOCKIXGBIKD. 

Length, 10-50 inches. Upper parts ashy gray; wings and tail brownish 
black and white; under parts white. 



BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER. 167 

and their lisping notes blend with other woodland voices 
without attracting our attention. 

May and September are the months for Warblers. 
Some species arrive in April, but they are most numer- 
ous between May 5 and 15, when the woods are 
thronged with their flitting forms. Less than half of our 
thirty-five species remain to breed ; the others go to their 
summer homes in the coniferous forests of the North. 
These northern birds return in the latter part of August 
and abound in September. Many of the Warblers seen 
at this season are immature birds wearing plumages so 
different from those of the adult birds seen in the spring, 
that their identity is not suspected, and, in effect, they 
are new birds to us. 

To the field ornithologist Warblers are therefore the 
most difficult as well as the most fascinating birds to 
study. Long after the Sparrows, Flycatchers, and Yireos 
have been mastered, there will be unsolved problems 
among the Warblers. Some rare species will be left to 
look for — it may be a member of the band flitting about 
actively in the branches above us — and in the hope of 
finding it we eagerly examine bird after bird until our 
enthusiasm yields to an aching neck. 

Acquaintance with more familiar birds will doubtless 

arouse the enthusiasm necessary to a successful pursuit of 

Black and White Warblers, but in the meanwhile I will 

Warbler, mention only those species that can be 

Mniotuta varia. most easily observed. Among them is 

Plate LX. the B]ac ^ and mite Warbler? whoge 

habit of creeping or climbing over trunk and limb aids 
in his identification. He is a summer resident, and about 
April 20 we may expect to hear the thin, wiry see-see- 
see-see notes which form his song. A month later we 
may find his nest, placed on the ground at the base of 
a stump or stone and containing four or five white 



168 WARBLERS. 

eggs speckled with reddish brown, chiefly at the larger 
end. 

The Yellow Warbler is also a summer resident, arriv- 
ing in the spring about April 30 and remaining, with 

the Black-and-white Warbler, until late 
Yellow Warbler, ^ September> It has the eneral 
Vendroica cestiva. L ° r 

pearance of being an entirely yellow 
bird, and is sometimes called " Wild Canary," but it has 
a much more slender bill than the Canary, and its breast 
is spotted with reddish brown. Most Warblers are wood- 
inhabiting birds, but the Yellow Warbler, unlike its rela- 
tives, prefers lawns, parks, and orchards to woodlands. 
Its nest, of fine grasses, fibers, and a large amount of cot- 
tony plant-down, is placed in shrubbery or shade trees. 
Its eggs are bluish white, thickly marked with cinnamon 
and olive-brown. 

The Black-throated Green Warbler nests in pine for- 
ests from southern New England northward, arriving 
„, , „ A , from the South about May 1 and re- 

BlacK-tliroateci 

Green Warbler, gaining until October. Its nest is 

Dendroica mrens. usually placed in pine trees ; its eggs 
Plate lxl are ^fte, spotted and speckled with 

dark brown. 

The songs of many Warblers are possessed of so little 
character that the best description conveys no idea of 
them, but the quaint zee-zee, zee-ee, zee of the Black- 
throated Green, which Mr. Burroughs writes v — , 

will be readily recognized. 

The Myrtle or Yellow-rnmped Warbler nests from 
northern New England northward, and in winter is the 
Myrtle Warbler, onl J Warbler to remain in the North- 
Dendroica coronata. em States, being often found as far 
Plate lxl north as New York city, when its 

favorite food of bayberries can be procured. At this 
season there is little or no black on the breast and the 




Plate LXVII. Page 175. 

BROWN. THRASHER. 

Length, 1140 inches. Upper parts bright reddish brown ; under parts 
white and black ; eyes yellow. 



EEDSTART. - 169 

back is grayish brown, but this Warbler may always be 
known by its four patches of yellow and its characteristic 
call-note of tchip. 

The Redstart belongs to the group of fly-catching 

Warblers, and, as an indication of its manner of feeding, 

Redstart n ^ s ^^ * s mucn broader and flatter than 

SetopMga ruticiiia. is usual in this family. The Redstart is 

Plate lxii. no t g0 patient and methodic a flycatcher 
as the birds to whom this name rightly belongs. They 
sit quietly until some insect comes within reach, and then 
with unerring aim launch out at it, returning to their 
perch to devour it at leisure. But the Redstart darts 
here and there, falls and rises and spins about, catching 
an insect at every turn and at the same time displaying 
his bright colors to such advantage that he seems the 
most beautiful as he is the most animated bird of the 
woods. As be pirouettes from limb to limb, with drooped 
wings and spread tail, he sings ser-wee swee, swee-ee, a 
simple but merry little jingle. 

The Redstart's bright colors, like some mark of 
special distinction, are not acquired at once. The young 
male must pass through a period of probation before he 
is worthy to wear the orange-red and black. In the 
meantime he appears flrst in the costume of the female, 
and by successive changes reaches the full dignity of 
Redstart estate at the age of three years. He nests, 
however, the first year, when his plumage closely re- 
sembles that of his mate. The nest, of fine strips of 
bark, plant-down, and other materials, is built in the 
crotch of a sapling ten to twenty feet from the ground. 
The eggs are grayish white or bluish white, spotted and 
blotched, chiefly at the larger end, with cinnamon and 
olive-brown. They are laid about May 28 — four weeks 
after the bird's arrival from the South. 

All the Warblers thus far mentioned are tree-inhabit- 
24 



170 OVEN-BIRD. 

ing birds, but the species now to be spoken of pass most 
of their time in the undergrowth or on the ground. The 

Oven-bird Oven-bird chooses the latter locality. 

Seiums aurocajniius. He has been well compared by Mr. 

Plate LXIIL Burroughs to a little Partridge, and if 
you have enough perseverance to find the author of the 
sharp cheep with which this somewhat suspicious bird 
will greet you, you will see a modestly attired little 
walker daintily picking his way over the leaves and fallen 
branches, with crest slightly erect, and head nodding at 
each step. 

Probably, however, your first acquaintance with the 
Oven-bird will be made through the medium of his song. 
There are few bits of woodland where in May and June 
you can not hear numbers of these birds singing. It is a 
loud, ringing, crescendo chant, to which Mr. Burroughs's 
description of "teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, 
TEACHES, " is so applicable that no one would think of 
describing it in any other way. The bird seems to exert 
himself to the utmost, and no one hearing this far' from 
musical performance would imagine that he could im- 
prove upon it. But if some evening during the height 
of the mating season you will visit the Oven-bird's 
haunts, you may hear a song whose wildness is startling. 
It is the flight-song of the Oven-bird, transforming the 
humble chanter into an inspired musician. Soaring high 
above the trees, he gives utterance to a rapid, ecstatic 
warbling so unlike his ordinary song that it is difficult to 
believe one bird is the author of them both. 

As an architect the Oven-bird is also distinguished. 
His unique nest is built on the ground of coarse grasses, 
weed stalks, leaves, and rootlets, and is roofed over, the 
entrance being at one side. It thus resembles an old- 
fashioned Dutch oven, and its shape is the origin of its 
The Oven-bird arrives from the South 




Plate LXVIII. Page 175. 

HOUSE WEEN. 
Length, 5-00 inches. Upper parts brown, marked with black and 
grayish; under parts grayish white. 



MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. m 171 

about May 1, and its eggs are laid about the 20th of the 
month. They are white, speckled or spotted with cinna- 
mon and reddish brown. 

The Maryland Yellow-throat is an abundant inhabit- 
ant of thickets and bushy undergrowths, readily iden- 
M . , tilled by his black mask and yellow 

Yellow-throat, breast, nervous activity, and character- 
GeotUypis trichas. istic notes. Some birds must be ap- 
proached with caution, but nothing save 
an actual attack upon his home will cause the Yellow- 
throat to leave its shelter. Hopping from limb to limb, 
he advances to the border of the thicket, then retreats to 
its depths, ail the time uttering an impatient chock, chit, 
or pit, and, if forced to fly, he goes only to the next clump 
of bushes. 

The Yellow-throat's somewhat explosive song is so 
easily set to words and so variable that there are many 
versions of it. It is described as whitititee, whitititee, 
whitititee / rapity, rapity, rapity, rap, or witch-e-wee-o, 
witch-e-wee-o, witch-e-wee-o. Mr. Burroughs says he has 
heard birds whose notes sounded like the words " Which 
way, sir % " and I have heard some who seemed to say 
" Wait a minute." 

To this the Yellow- throat sometimes adds a flight 
song, which is a miniature of the Oven-bird's aerial sere- 
nade. It is generally added to his usual song, and is 
most often heard late in the season at evening, when 
the bird may be seen springing into the air above his 
bushy retreat. 

The Yellow-throat arrives from the South about May 
1, and remains until the middle of October. Late in 
May a bulky nest of grasses, strips of bark, and dead 
leaves, lined with finer materials, is built on or near the 
ground. The three to five eggs are white, rather thinly 
speckled with reddish brown. Often an egg of the Cow- 



172 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 

bird will be found in the nest, Yellow-throats being one 
of the birds most frequently chosen by the Cowbird as 
foster-parents. 

The Chat is the largest of the Warblers, and so unlike 
them, or any other birds, in disposition that if classifica- 

Yellow-breastedChat, tion were based on character, the Chat 
Meria virem. would surely be placed in a family by 

Plate lxv. itself. The Chat's peculiarities are 
numerous, but are most evident in his song. Many 
times I have sat, note-book and pencil in hand, trying to 
express in words the song of a Chat singing in a neigh- 
boring thicket, but I have never succeeded in putting on 
paper anything which would convey an adequate idea of 
the bird's remarkable vocal performances. Of others 
who have attempted the same task, I think Mr. Bur- 
roughs comes nearest to interpreting the bird's strange 
medley. He says : " Now he barks like a puppy, then 
quacks like a Duck, then rattles like a Kingfisher, then 
squalls like a fox, then caws like a Crow, then mews like 
a cat. . . . C-r-r-r-r-r — whrr — that's it — chee — quack, 
cluck, yit-yit-yit — now hit it — tr-r-r-r — when — caw — caw 
— cut, cut — tea-boy — who, who — mew, mew" You may 
be pardoned for doubting that a bird can produce so 
strange a series of noises, but if you will go to the Chat's 
haunts in thickety openings in the woods, or other bushy 
places, and let him speak for himself, you will admit that 
our alphabet can not do him justice. To hear the Chat is 
one thing, to see him quite another. But he will repay 
study, and if you will conceal yourself near his home you 
may see him deliver part of his repertoire while on the 
wing, with legs dangling, wings and tail flapping, and his 
whole appearance suggesting that of a bird who has had 
an unfortunate encounter with a charge of shot. 

But if the Chat's song is surprising when heard dur- 
ing the day, imagine the effect it creates at night when 




Plate LXIX. Page 177. 

LONG-BILLED MAKSH WEEN. 

Length, 5-20 inches. Upper parts brown, black, and white, a white 
line over eye; under parts white, sides brownish. 



CATBIRD. 173 

he has the stage to himself, for he is one of our few birds 
who sing regularly and freely during the night, moonlit 
nights being most often selected. 

The Chat is a rather southern bird in its distribution, 
being found north of Connecticut only locally and rarely. 
It winters in the tropics, coming to us about May 1 and 
departing early in September. Its well-made nest of 
grasses, leaves, and strips of bark is generally placed in 
the crotch of a sapling within three feet of the ground. 
Its 'three to five eggs are white, rather evenly speckled 
and spotted with reddish brown. 

Thrashers, Wrens, etc. (Family Troglodytid^].) 

The Eastern representatives of this family are appar- 
ently too unlike to be classed in the same group, but when 
all the two hundred members of the family are studied, it 
is evident that the extremes are connected by intermedi- 
ate species possessing in a degree the characters of both 
Wrens and Thrashers. 

The Catbird belongs to the subfamily Mimince, which 
contains also the Mockingbirds and Thrashers, number- 
Catbird m £ sorae fifty species, all being re- 
Gaieoscoptes stricted to North America. 

carolinensis. The Catbird ig Qne of fa Q mogt 

familiar feathered inhabitants of the denser shrubbery 
about our lawns and gardens. The sexes are alike in 
color, both being slaty gray, with a black cap and tail, 
and brick-red under tail-coverts. They arrive from the 
South about April 29, and remain until October. Their 
nest is usually placed in thickets, shrubbery, or heavily 
foliaged trees, and the deep greenish blue eggs are laid 
the fourth week in May. 

It is unfortunate that the Catbird's name should have 
originated in his call-note rather than in his song. The 



174 MOCKINGBIRD. 

former is a petulant, whining, nasal tchay, to me one of 
the most disagreeable sounds in Nature, and so unlike 
the bird's song that he seems possessed of a dual person- 
ality. The Catbird's song, from a musical standpoint, is 
excelled by that of few of our birds. His voice is full 
and rich, his execution and phrasing are faultless ; but 
the effect of his song, sweet and varied as it is, is marred 
by the singer's too evident consciousness. 

The Catbird's relative, the Mockingbird, is an abun- 
dant inhabitant of the southern United States from Yir- 

Mockingbird ginia to California, and ranges south- 
Mimus poiygiottos. ward into Mexico. In the Eastern 

Plate lxvi. States it is not common north of south- 
ern Illinois and Virginia, but in summer it is found in 
small numbers as far north as Massachusetts, where a few 
pairs breed each season. It is exceedingly domestic in 
its habits, and in the South there are few suitable gar- 
dens, either in the town or country, which are not inhab- 
ited by a pair of Mockingbirds. 

The power of mimicry for which this bird is cele- 
brated has, I think, been unduly exaggerated, and the 
fact that its usual song contains several notes resembling 
those of other species doubtless in part accounts for its 
much overrated ability as a mimic. It is unnecessary, 
however, for the Mockingbird to borrow the notes of other 
birds, for his own song places him in the front rank of 
our songsters. It is delivered with a spirit and animation 
which add greatly to its attractiveness. The Mocking- 
bird does not sing between mouthfuls, as do the Yireos, 
or quietly from a perch, like the Towhee or Thrasher ; 
he frequently changes his position, hopping from place 
to place, making short nights, bounding into the air, and 
displaying the white markings of his wings and tail, as 
though it were impossible for him to give expression to 
his emotion through the medium of voice alone. During 




^*t\*Vt U\Qva^^'^ 



Plate LXX. Pages 178, 179. 

CHICKADEE. 

Length, 5-25 inches. Crown and throat black; cheeks white ; back gray; 
belly white, washed with brownish. 

BROWN CEEEPEE. 
Length, 5-65 inches. Upper parts brown, rusty, and white; under 
parts white. 



BROWN THRASHER. • 175 

moonlight nights of the nesting season, Mockingbirds 
sing all night. They are then less active, and, mounting 
to some favorite perch, often a chimney top, flood the 
still air with entrancing melody. 

Like the Catbird and Mocker, the Brown Thrasher or 

Brown " Thrush " inhabits thickets and undergrowth. 

Brown Thrasher, He is > however, a mnch less domestic 

Harporhyndus rufus. bird, and prefers brushy pasture lots and 

Plate lx vii. wayside hedges to lawns or gardens. 
He arrives from the South the latter part of April, and 
often remains until late in October. The nest is built 
about May 15, and is placed on the ground or several feet 
above it. The eggs are bluish or grayish white, thickly, 
evenly, and minutely speckled with cinnamon or reddish 
brown. 

As a songster I should rank the Thrasher between 
the Mocker and the Catbird. His song is less varied and 
animated than the Mocker's, and while his technique may 
not excel that of the Catbird, his song, to my mind, is 
much more effective than the performance of that accom- 
plished musician. Mounting to the topmost limb of a 
tree, he sings uninterruptedly for several minutes. The 
notes can be heard for at least a third of a mile, ringing 
out clear and well defined above the medley of voices 
that form the chorus of a May morning. 

The intense vitality which characterizes the life of 
birds finds its highest expression in the Wrens. Perpet- 

House Wren lia ^ m otion alone describes the activity 

Troglodytes aedon. of these nervous, excitable little crea- 

Fiate lxviii. tures. Bepose seems out of the ques- 
tion ; as well expect to catch a weasel asleep as to find a 
Wren at rest. 

In his movements, song, and nesting habits our House 
Wren exhibits the characteristic traits of his family. He 
is ever hopping, flitting, bobbing, or bowing, pausing 



176 HOUSE WREN. 

only long enough to give voice to his feelings in fidgetty, 
scolding notes, or an effervescing, musical trill, with the 
force of which his small body trembles. It is a wonder- 
ful outburst of song, and the diminutive singer's enthu- 
siasm and endurance are even more remarkable. The 
song occupies about three seconds, and I have heard a 
Wren, in response to a rival, sing at the rate of ten songs 
a minute for two hours at a time. 

The House Wren nests in almost any kind of suitable 
hole or cavity, and will frequently take possession of a 
bird box, if the House Sparrows have not already set up 
a claim to the same property. To prevent intrusion from 
the Sparrows, the entrance to the house should be made 
not larger than a quarter of a dollar. Whatever be 
the site the Wrens select, their surplus energy is em- 
ployed in completely filling it with twigs, half a bushelful 
being sometimes brought with endless pains. The nest 
proper is composed of dried grasses, and is placed in the 
center of this mass. Even in egg-laying the exhaustless 
vitality of Wrens is shown, as many as six or eight eggs 
being deposited. In color they are uniformly and mi- 
nutely speckled with pinkish brown. 

The House Wren arrives from the South late in April 

and remains until October. Shortly before its departure 

in the fall a Wren comes from the 

Winter Wren, -^^ tbat resemb i es tlie House Wren 

Troglodytes memahs. , 

in appearance, but is smaller and has 
the under parts pale brown, the breast and belly being 
finely barred with a darker shade of the same color. 
This is the Winter Wren, a bird that nests from north- 
ern New England northward and southward along the 
crests of the Alleghanies to North Carolina. It remains 
with us in small numbers throughout the winter, return- 
ing to its summer home in April. Mr. Burroughs writes 
of the Winter Wren's song as a " wild, sweet, rhythmical 




Plate LXXI. Pages 180, 181. 

BED-BBEASTED NUTHATCH. 

Length, 1-60 inches. Male, crown and line through eye black; back 
gray; under parts rusty. Female, similar, but black replaced by gray. 

WHITE-BBEASTED NUTHATCH. 
Length, 6 -05 inches. Male, crown black ; back gray ; face and under 
parts white. Female, similar, but crown slaty. 



WEENS. i7f 

cadence that holds yon entranced," but while with us the 
bird's only note is an impatient chimp, chimp, suggest- 
ing the Song Sparrow's call-note. 

The Carolina Wren is a more southern bird than the 
House Wren. It is of only local distribution north of 
Carolina Wren, southern New Jersey, and is rarely 
Thryothorus found north of the vicinity of New 

ludovicianus. y ork city, where it appears to be in- 
creasing in numbers and is found throughout the year. 
This Wren is half an inch longer and decidedly heavier 
than the House Wren ; its upper parts are bright cinna- 
mon, its under parts washed with the same color, and 
a conspicuous white line passes from the bill over the 
eye. 

The Carolina Wren is an exceedingly musical bird, 
and its loud whistled calls are among the most character- 
istic bird notes in the South. They are numerous and 
varied, the most common resembling the syllables whee- 
udel, whee-udel, whee-udel, and tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea- 
kettle. 

The haunts of most marsh-inhabiting birds are as 

sharply defined as the limits of their ranges. The Long- 

, .„ , billed Marsh Wren is not known in 

Long-billed 

Marsh Wren tne ^ ast north of Massachusetts, but I 
Cistothoms paiustHs. would as soon expect to find one of 

Plate lxix. these birds in Greenland as out of a 
marsh. They arrive from the South early in May and 
remain until October, living in marshes where cat-tails 
grow, to which they may attach their bulky, globular 
nests of reeds and grasses. With the superabundant 
vigor of Wrens they build more nests than they can 
possibly occupy, and many will be examined before the 
^.ve to six dark brown eggs are found. 

The Marsh Wren is quite as active and irrepressible 
as the other members of his family. His call is the cus- 

25 



amencana. 
Plate LXX. 



178 BROWN CREEPER. 

tomarj scolding cack; his song, a bubbling, trickling 
tinkle that can not be called musical, but to my mind is 
indescribably attractive. It is often sung in the air, and 
in marshes where Wrens are abundant bird after bird 
may be seen springing a few feet above the reeds, sing- 
ing his song, and then dropping back again. 

Creepers. (Family Certhiid^:.) 

Of the twelve known members of this family, the 
Brown Creeper is the only one inhabiting the New 

World. It is a northern bird, breed- 
Brown Creeper, . ■»*-•■' 
CerthiafamiUaris mg at sea level only irom Maine north- 
ward, but extending southward in the 
Alleghanies to North Carolina. Sev- 
eral western races are found in the Rocky Mountain 
region and Sierra Madres. Our eastern bird migrates 
southward late in September, and from that date until 
April it may be found from Massachusetts to Florida. 

The Creeper, like a Woodpecker, never climbs head 
downward, but, using his stiff, pointed tail-feathers (see 
Fig. 3 h) as a prop, winds rapidly up the trunks of trees 
in his apparently never-ending search for insects' eggs 
and larvse hidden in crevices in the bark. If the Wrens 
are the most active birds, the Creeper is the most dili- 
gent. Except when it was stopping to secure some tid- 
bit, I can not remember seeing a Creeper resting. He 
usually begins at the base of a tree and climbs in a seri- 
ous, intent way for a certain distance, and then, without 
a moment's pause, drops down to the bottom of the next 
tree and continues his search. 

The Creeper's only notes while with us are' a thin, 
fine squeak ; but Mr. Brewster tells us that during the 
nesting season he has an exquisitely tender song of four 
notes. 




Plate LXXII. Pages 181, 182. 

GOLDEN-CKOWNED KINGLET. 

Length, 4-05 inches. Mile, crown orange, yellow, and black: back olive- 
green; under parts whitish. Female, similar, but crown without orange. 

KUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 

Length, 4-40 inches. Adult male, crown-patch ruby; back olive-green; 
under parts whitish. Adult female and young, similar, but no crown-patch. 



CHICKADEE. 179 



Titmice and Nuthatches. (Family Parid^.) 

Comparing the Titmice with the Nuthatches, the 
former may be described as short-billed birds with long 
tails who do not creep, the latter as long-billed birds 
with short tails who do creep. The two groups are, in 
fact, quite distinct, and by some systematists are placed 
in separate families. 

The Titmice number some seventy-five species, four 
of which are found in eastern North America. The 

Chickadee commonest and most generally distrib- 

Parus atricapMus. uted is the Black-capped Chickadee, 

Plate LXX. which is found from Labrador to Mary- 

land and in the Alleghanies southward to North Carolina. 
Farther south it is replaced by the closely allied Carolina 
Chickadee. 

Throughout the greater part of its range the Chickadee 
is found at all seasons, but it is less common in the middle 
and southern New England States in summer than in win- 
ter, and is most numerous during its migration in October. 

It is with winter that these merry little black and 
white midgets are generally associated. Their tameness, 
quaint notes, and friendly ways make them unusually com- 
panionable birds ; one need not lack for society when 
Chickadees are to be found. Many of their notes are 
especially conversational in character, and in addition to 
the familiar chickadee call, they have a high, sweet, 
plaintive two- or three-noted whistle. 

The Chickadee nests about the middle of May, select- 
ing some suitable cavity or making one for himself in a 
decayed trunk or limb and lining it with moss, plant- 
down, and feathers. The eggs, five to eight in number, 
are white, spotted and speckled, chiefly at the larger end, 
with cinnamon or reddish brown. 



180 



WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



The Tufted Titmouse is a more southern bird than 

the Chickadee and is rarely found north of northern New 

Jersey, where, however, it remains 

Tufted Titmouse, ^ouffhoiit the year. It is six inches 

Parus bicolor. , -, , -i • • i i i 

m length, gray above, whitish below, 
with a black forehead, reddish brown sides, and a con- 
spicuous crest. Its usual call is a whistled peto, jpeto^ 
peto, which it will utter for hours at a time. It has also 
a de-de-de-de call, suggesting the Chickadee's well-known 
notes, but louder and more nasal. 

With no especial structure other than slightly enlarged 
toe nails, the Nuthatches still differ markedly from other 

White-breasted bMs in the ease with wMch the J mn 

Nuthatch, up or down tree trunks. The tail is 

Sitta caroiinensis. short and square and is not used in 

Plate lxxi. climbing. The bill is rather slender, 
but proves an effective instrument in removing insects' 
eggs and larvse from crevices in the bark and even in 
excavating a nesting hole in some decayed limb. Several 
species also use it to crack or " hatch " nuts after they 
have wedged them in a convenient crevice. 

Of the three species of Nuthatches found in eastern 
North America the White-breasted is the most common 
and generally distributed, being a permanent resident from 
Florida to northern New England. Like many resident 
birds, it nests early, the five to eight eggs being depos- 
ited about April 20. They are white, thickly and 
evenly spotted and speckled with reddish brown and 
lavender. 

This Nuthatch's usual call-note is a loud yank, 
yank, while its song is a singular, tenor hah-hah-hah- 
hah-hah. 

The Red -breasted Nuthatch is a more northern bird 
than its larger, white-breasted cousin. At sea level it 
nests from Maine northward, but in the higher parts of 




Plate LXXIII. Page 183# 

VEEBY. 

Length, 7-50 inches. Upper parts, wings, and tail uniform light cinna- 
mon; breast buffy, light marked with cinnamon; belly white; sides 
grayish. 



GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. .181 

the Alleghanies it breeds as far southward as North Caro- 
lina. It comes to us from the north early in Septem- 

Bed-breasted ber ' and in the winter ma ^ be f ° UIld in 

Nuthatch, varying numbers from Massachusetts to 

suta canadensis. the Gulf States. Its call-note is 

Plate lxxi. higher, thinner, and more drawled 

than the vigorous yank, yank of the White -breasted 

Nuthatch, and suggests the sound produced by a penny 

trumpet. 



Kinglets, Gnatcatchers, etc. (Family Sylviid^e.) 

Of the three subfamilies included in this family 
we have representatives in eastern North America of 
only two — the two Kinglets of the subfamily Begu- 
lince and the Blue-gray G-natcatcher of the subfamily 
Poliojrtilinai. The Gnatcatcher is a southern bird, oc- 
curring only locally or as a straggler north of Maryland. 
The Kinglets are both more northern in their distri- 
bution. 

The Golden-crowned Kinglet nests from the north- 
ern tier of States northward and southward along the 
Golden-crowned crests of the Alleghanies to North Car- 

Kinglet, olina. In its autumnal migration it 
Beguius satrapa. reaches the vicinity of New York city 
about September 20, and during the 
winter may be found in varying numbers from Maine to 
Florida. 

The Golden-crown flits about the terminal twigs in its 
search for insect food and reminds one somewhat of the 
smaller, tree-inhabiting Warblers in habits. Its call is a 
fine t% ti, one of the highest and least noticeable notes 
uttered by birds. Its song, which is rarely heard except 
in its nesting range, is described by Mr. Brewster as begin- 
ning with a succession of five or six fine shrill, high-pitched, 



182 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. 

somewhat faltering notes, and ending with a short, rapid, 
rather explosive warble. 

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a more northern bird 
in summer and a more southern bird in winter than the 
Golden-crown, rarely being found at the latter season north 
of South Carolina. Throughout the Middle States it oc- 
R . , curs as an abundant spring and fall mi- 

Kinglet, grant, passing northward from April 10 
Reguius calendula, to May 10 and southward between Sep- 

piate lxxii. tember 2 and October 20. The Ruby- 
crown resembles the Golden -crown in habits, but is more 
active. Females and young males lack the ruby crown- 
patch, but their white eye-ring, impatient, wrenlike little 
note, and manner of nervously twitching their wings are 
characteristic. 

Taking the small size of the bird into consideration, 
the Ruby-crown's song is one of the most marvelous vo- 
cal performances among birds. As Dr. Coues remarks, 
the sound -producing organ is not larger than a pinhead, 
and the muscles that move it are almost microscopic 
shreds of flesh ; still, the bird's song is not only surpass- 
ingly sweet, varied, and sustained, but is possessed of suf- 
ficient volume to be heard at a distance of two hundred 
yards. Fortunately, the Ruby-crown sings both on its 
spring and fall migrations. 

Thrushes, Bluebirds, etc. (Family Turdid^e.) 

On the basis of certain details of structure Thrushes 
are generally assigned highest rank in the class Aves. 
Without pausing to discuss the value of the characters on 
which this classification is made, there can be no question 
that from an aesthetic standpoint the Thrushes possess in 
a greater degree than any other birds those qualifications 
which make the ideal bird. There are many birds with 




Plate LXXIV. Page 184. 

WOOD THRUSH. 

Length, 8-30 inches. Upper parts bright, rusty cinnamon, brightest on 
back and crown; under parts white everywhere, except center of belly, 
with large, rounded black spots. 



VEERY. . 183 

brighter plumage, more striking voices, and more inter- 
esting habits, but there are none whose bearing is more dis- 
tinguished, whose songs are more spiritual. The brilliant 
Hummingbirds and Tanagers excite our admiration, but 
the gentle, retiring Thrushes appeal to our higher emo- 
tions ; their music gives voice to our noblest aspirations. 

Five of the true Thrushes of the genus Turdus are 
found in eastern North America. Three of them may 
be mentioned here — the Veery, Wood Thrush, and Her- 
mit Thrush — a peerless trio of songsters. The Veery' s 
mysterious voice vibrates through the air in pulsating 
circles of song, like the strains of an iEolian harp. The 
Wood Thrush's notes are ringing and bell-like ; he sounds 
the matin and vesper chimes of day, while the Hermit's 
hymn echoes through the woods like the swelling tones 
of an organ in some vast cathedral. 

But it is impossible to so describe these songs that 
their charm will be understood. Fortunately, all three 
birds are abundant, and a brief account of their haunts 
and habits will enable any one to hnd them. 

The Yeery, or Wilson's Thrush, winters in Central 
America, and nests from northern Illinois and northern 
Veery New Jersey northward to Manitoba and 

Turdus fuscescens. Newfoundland and southward along the 
Plate lxxiii. Alleghanies to North Carolina. It comes 
to us in the spring, about May 1, and remains until Sep- 
tember 15. Near the middle of May it begins to build its 
nest, placing it on or near the ground. Its eggs are 
greenish blue, and resemble in color those of the Wood 
Thrush, but are slightly smaller. 

The Veery's favorite haunts are low, damp woods 
with an abundant undergrowth. It is a more retiring 
bird than the Wood Thrush, and is rarely seen far from 
tracts of woodland. It is to be distinguished from our 
other Thrushes by the uniform cinnamon color of its 



184 WOOD THRUSH. 

upper parts, faintly spotted breast, and particularly "by 
its notes. 

The Veery's characteristic calls are a clearly whistled 
whee-o or whee-you, the first note the higher, and a some- 
what softer too-whee or teweu, in which the first note is 
the lower. Its song is one of the most mysterious and 
thrilling sounds to be heard in the woods. Elsewhere I 
have described it as a a weird, ringing monotone of 
blended alto and soprano tones. ... It has neither 
break nor pause, and seems to emanate from no one 
place. If you can imagine the syllables vee-r-r-hu [or 
vee-ry] repeated eight or nine times around a series of 
intertwining circles, the description may enable you to 
recognize the Veery's song." 

The Wood Thrush is a more southern bird than the 
Veery, breeding from as far south as Florida, north- 
Wood Thrush ward to southern Vermont and Minne- 
Turdus mmteiinus. sota. It winters in Central America 
Plate lxxiv. an( j reacnes ug { n ^q springs about April 

30, and remains until October 1. Its nest is built about 
the middle of May, and is generally placed in a sapling 
some eight feet from the ground. The eggs are greenish 
blue. 

The Wood Thrush is not such a recluse as the Yeery. 
He is, it is true, a wood lover, and shares with the Yeery 
his secluded haunts, but he seems equally at home in 
maples and elms about our houses, or even in the more 
quiet village streets. He is therefore more often heard 
than his mysterious relative, and, as a voice, is familiar to 
many who do not know the singer's name. 

The call -notes of the Wood Thrush are a liquid quirt 
and sharp pit-pit. The latter is an alarm note, which, 
when the bird fears for the safety of its young, is uttered 
with much increased force and rapidity. It can be closely 
imitated by striking two large pebbles together. 




Plate LXXV. Page 185. 

HEEMIT THEUSH. 

Length, 745 inches. "Upper parts and wings dark cinnamon-brown; 
tail bright reddish brown; under parts white; breast spotted with 
black; sides washed with brownish ; belly white. 



_J_! # _| 1 



HERMIT THRUSH. . 185 

The song of the Wood Thrush is wholly unlike 

that of the Veeiy. It opens with the nutelike notes, 

and is sung disconnectedly, being broken 

by pauses and by low notes, audible only 

Come to me, when one is near the singer. 

The Hermit Thrush is a more northern bird than 
either the Yeery or the Wood Thrush. It rarely nests at 
Hermit Thrush sea ^ eve ^ south of Vermont or northern 
Turdus aonalaschkai Michigan, but in the higher portions of 
paiiasii. Massachusetts and on the crests of the 

Catskills and Alleghanies in Pennsyl- 
vania, it is also found breeding. It winters from south- 
ern Illinois and Isew Jersey southward to the Gulf, it 
being the only member of its genus to inhabit the east- 
ern United States at that season. Its spring migrations 
occur between April 5 and May 10, and in the fall we 
see it from October 15 to JSTovember 25, while occasion- 
ally it may winter. 

During its migrations the Hermit Thrush usually fre- 
quents woodlands, where it may often be seen on or near 
the ground. Like the Yeery, it is a ground-nester, and 
its eggs, though slightly lighter in color, resemble those 
of the Yeery and Wood Thrush in being plain, bluish 
green. When alighting, the Hermit has a characteristic 
habit of gently raising and lowering its tail, and at the 
same time uttering a low chuck. Sometimes it sings 
during the winter, in Florida, and also while migrating ; 
but if you would hear this inspired songster at his best, 
you must visit him in his summer home. The Hermit's 
song resembles that of the Wood Thrush in form, but 
it is more tender and serene. O spheral, spheral ! O 
holy, holy ! Mr. Burroughs writes the its opening notes, 
and there is something about the words which seems to 
express the spirit of heavenly peace with which the bird's 
song is imbued. 

26 



186 ROBIN. 

It seems a long step from these gentle, refined 
Thrushes to their comparatively prosaic cousin, the famil- 
iar Robin. But the Robin has his 
ir 7 . ' . . place, and in March his cheery son^ is 

Merula migratoria. r «/ o 

quite as effective as the Hermit's 
hymn in June. 

During the summer Robins are distributed through- 
out North America from the Gulf States and southern 
end of the Mexican tableland, northward to Labrador and 
Alaska. In the winter they may be found in numbers 
from Yirginia southward, small flocks and single birds 
being occasionally met with as far north as Massachu- 
setts. Robins are among our earliest migrants, appear- 
ing in the vicinity of New York city between February 
20 and March 1. Nesting is begun about April 15, the 
mud-lined nest and greenish blue eggs being too well 
known to require description. Two, or even three broods 
may be raised. In June, the young of the first brood 
with some adult males resort each night to a chosen 
roost, often frequented by many thousands of birds. 

The fall migration begins in September, but the birds 
are with us in roving bands until December. 

About the time that we first hear the Robin's ringing 

welcome to spring we may listen for the Bluebird's more 

gentle greeting. Doubtless the bird 

Bluebird hag been witll \ ls all w i n ter, for Blue- 

Siaka siahs. . „ 

birds winter m small numbers as iar 
north as southern Connecticut, often living near groves 
of cedars, which offer them both food and shelter. In 
the Southern States they are far more abundant at this 
season, gathering in flocks containing hundreds of indi- 
viduals. 

The Bluebird is the first of our smaller birds to begin 
housekeeping, and early in April it may be seen pro- 
specting about the site of last year's nest in a bird box or 



BLUEBIRD. • - 187 

hollow tree, and the bluish white eggs will probably be 
laid before the middle of the month. 

~No bird's song is more associated with the return of 
spring than the Bluebird's ; nor is there a bird's note 
more expressive of the passing season than the Bluebird's 
autumn call of far-away, far-away. 



INDEX. 



Acanthis linaria, 146. 
Accipiter cooperi, 107. 

velox, 107. 
Actitis macularia, 96. 
.^Egialitis semipalmata, 99. 

vocifera, 109. 
Agelaius phoeniceus, 132. 
Aggressive coloration, 44. 
Aigrette plumes, 38. 
Alaudidae, 126. 
Albatross, 18, 19. 
Alcedinida?, 113. 
Arnpelida?, 161. 
Ampelis cedrorum, 161. 
Anatidse, 89. 
Androdon, 32. 
Anhingas, 32. 
Anseres, 89. 

Antrostomus vociferus, 119. 
Archseopteryx, 3, 4, 18. 
Ardea herodias, 91. 

virescens, 92. 
Ardeidae, 90. 
Asio accipitrinus, 109. 

wilsonianus, 110. 
Auk, Great, 20. 

Kazor-billed, 20. 
Auks, 20, 21, 28, 30. 
Avocet, 32, 33. 
Avocettula, 31. 

Bill, the, as a hand, 30. 
as a musical instrument, 30. 
as a weapon, 31. 
sexual adornment of, 30. 
uses of, 30. 



Birds, altricial, 69. 

ancestors of, 2. 

beauty of, 9. 

bill of, 30. 

biography of, 73. 

characters of, 2. 

colors of, 35. 

distribution of, 4. 

economic value of, 5. 

eggs of, 68. 

evolution of, 14. 

feet of, 27. 

Held key to, 75. 

flightless, 19. 

grace of, 10. 

how to identify, 71. 

mating of, 65. 

mental development of, 10. 

migration of, 48. 

musical powers of, 10. 

nests of, 65. 

number of species of, 1. 

place in Nature of, 1. 

prsecocial, 69. 

relation to man of, 5. 

scientific value of, 5. 

songs of, 11, 62. 

tail of, 25. 

topography of, 74. 

voice of, 62. 

wings of, 17. 

young of, 70. 
Bittern, American, 93. 
Blackbird, Crow, 133. 

Bedwinged, 132. 
Blackbirds, 55, 130. 



189 



190 



INDEX. 



Bluebird, 49, 186. 

Bobolink, 16, 36, 37, 38, 54, 55, 60, 63, 

134. 
Bob-white, 36, 100. 
Bonasa umbellus, 101. 
Botaurus lentiginosus, 93. 
Bubonidaa, 108. 
Bull-bat, 118. 
Bunting, Bay-winged, 140. 

Black-throated, 155. 

Indigo, 63, 152. 

Snow, 147. 
Butcher-bird, 162. 
Buteo borealis, 106. 

lineatus, 104. 
Butter-bird, 135. 
Buzzard, Turkey, 104. 
Buzzards, 8. 

Call-notes, significance of, 63. 

Canaries, 39. 

Caprimulgidas, 117. 

Cardinal, 153. 

Cardinalis cardinalis, 153. 

Carpodacus purpureus, 149. 

Cassique, 23. 

Cassowary, 19. 

Catbird, 69, 173. 

Cathartes aura, 103. 

Cathartidse, 103. 

Certhia familiaris americana, 178. 

Certhiidas, 178. 

Ceryle alcyon, 114. 

Chaetura pelagica, 119. 

Chambergo, 135. 

Charadriidse, 98. 

Chat, Yellow-breasted, 172. 

Chebec, 125. 

Chelidon erythrogaster, 159 

Chewink, 151. 

Chickadee, 7, 8, 70, 179. 

Carolina. 179. 
Chippy, 142. 

Bed-capped, 146. 

Winter, 146. 
Chondestes grammacus, 154. 
Chordeiles virginianus, 118. 
Circus hudsonius, 106. 



Cistothorus palustris, 177. 
Clamatores, 122. 
Clape, 116. 
Clivicola riparia, 159. 
Coccyges, 112. 
Coccyzus americanus, 112. 

erythrophthalmus, 113. 
Colaptes auratus, 116. 
Colinus virginianus, 100. 
Color and age, 36. 

and climate, 39. 

and food, 39. 

and haunt and habit, 41. 

and sex, 45. 
Colors of birds, 35. 
Columbae, 102. 
Columbidse, 102. 
Contopus virens, 126. 
Coot, 27, 28, 94. 
Cormorants, 69. 
Corvida?, 128. 
Corvus americanus, 128. 
Cow bird, 137. 

Creeper, Brown, 16, 25, 178. 
Creepers, 6,. 15, 16, 178. 
Crossbill, American, 147. 
Crow, American, 128. 
Crow-duck, 94. 
Cuckoo, Black-billed, 113. 

Yellow-billed, 7, 112. 
Cuculidae, 112. 
Cyanocitta cristata, 130. 

Deceptive coloration, 44. 
Dendrocolaptidse, 32. 
Dendroica sestiva, 168. 

coronata, 168. 

virens, 168. 
Dickcissel, 155. 
Directive colors, 44. 
Diving Birds, 84. 
Docimastes, 31. 
Dolichonyx oryzivorus, 134. 
Dove, Carolina, 102. 

Mourning, 102. 
Dryobates pubescens medianus, 115. 

villosus, 115. 
Duck, Black, 89. 



INDEX. 



191 



Duck, Broadbill, 90. 

Bufflehead, 90. 

Canvasback, 90. 

Eider, 90. 

Old Squaw, 90. 

Bedhead, 90. 

Buddy, 90. 

Scaup, 90. 

^Yood, 89. 
Ducks, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30, 36, 67. 

Eagle, Bald, 108. 
Eggs of birds, 68. 
Egret, White, 91. 
Empidonax minimus, 125. 
Emu, 19, 69, 70. 
Ereunetes pusillus, 98. 
Eutoxeres, 31. 

Falco sparverras, 106. 

Falconida?, 104. 

Feet, the, as hands, 29. 

as weapons, 29. 

effects of use and disuse of, 27. 

seasonal change in structure of, 29. 

uses of, 27. 
Field-glass, 72. 
Finch, Grass, 140. 

Lark, 154. 

Furple, 39, 149. 
Finches, 42, 13S. 
Firebird, 131. 
Fish Hawk, 66. 
Flamingo. 28, 39. 
Flicker, 68, 116. 
Flycatcher, Arizona Crested, 124. 

Crested, 68, 1 23. 

Great Crested, 123. 

Least, 125. 
Flycatchers. 6. 27. 44. 121. 
Frigate Birds. 5, 19. 
Fringillidse, 139. 
Fulica americana, 94. 

Galeoscoptes carolinensis, 173. 
Gallinse. 100. 
Gallinago delicata, 97. 
Gallinules, 17, 20, 22. 



Gannets, 32. 
Geothlypis trichas, 171. 
Glacial period, 59. 
Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray, 181. 
Goldfinch, 148. 
Goose, Canada, 94. 
Grackle, Bronzed, 133. 

Purple. 133. 
Grebe, Pied-billed, 84. 
Grebes, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 84. 
Grosbeak, Cardinal, 36. 

Pine. 148. 

Bose-breasted, 36, 150. 
Grouse, Buffed, 29, 101. 
Grouse, 18, 19, 23, 27, 29, 36, 41, 62. 
Gull. Herring, 86. 
Gulls, 9, 67. 

Haliasetus leucocephalus, 108. 
Hangnest, 131. 
Harporhynchus rufus, 175. 
Hawk, Chicken, 104, 105. 

Cooper's, 8, 104, 107. 

Fish, 14, 29, 107. 

Hen, 104. 

Marsh, 64.106. 

Bed-shouldered, 104. 

Bed-tailed, 106. 

Sharp-shinned, 8, 104. 107. 

SpaiTow, 106. 
Hawks, 7, 8, 29, 36, 44, 55, 65. 
Hell-diver, 84. 
Herodiones, 90. 
Heron, Black-crowned Night, 92. 

Great Blue, 91. 

Little Green, 92. 

Snowy, 91. 
Herons, 28. 
High-hole, 68, 70. 116. 
Hirundinidse, 156. 
Hoatzin, 17. 
Huia-bird, 33. 
Humming-bird, Avocet, 31 

Bu by-throated, 120. 

Sickle-billed, 31. 

Siphon-billed. 31. 

Small-billed, 31. 

Tooth-billed, 32. 



192 



INDEX. 



Hummingbirds, 5, 6, 14, 18, 23, 25, 31. 

42, 67, 69, 70, 120. 

Ibis, Scarlet, 39. 
Icteria virens, 172. 
Icteridse, 130. 
Icterus galbula, 131. 
spurius, 132. 

Jacana, 24, 28. 
Jay, Blue, 129. 
Junco, 145. 
Junco hyemalis, 145. 
Juncos, 41, 44. 

Key to common birds, 75. 
Killdeer, 99. 
Kingbird, 122. 
Kingfisher, Belted, 114. 
Kinglet, Golden-crowned, 181. 
Euby-crowned, 182. 

Laniidae, 162. 
Lanius boreal is, 162. 
Lark, Horned, 41, 55, 126. 

Prairie Horned, 127. 
Laridse, 86. 

Larus argentatus smitbsonianus, 86. 
Lighthouses, 56, 57. 
Limicolse, 32, 95. 
Longipennes, 86. 
Loon, 85. 
Loxia curvirostra minor, 147. 

Macrochires, 117. 
Mallard, 89. 
Man-o'-war Bird, 19. 
Marsh Hen, 94. 
Martin, Purple, 157, 161. 
Mating of birds, 65. 
Meadowlark, 27, 44, 136. 
Megascops asio, 110. 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, 116. 
Melospiza fasciata, 138. 

georgiana, 139. 
Mergansers, 32, 89. 
Merula migratoria, 186. 
Micropodidse, 119. 



Microrhynchus, 31. 
Migration of birds, 48. 

cause of, 59. 

effects of changes of climate on, 59. 

extent of, 49. 

highways, 55, 60. 

manner of, 54. 

nocturnal, 55, 56, 57. 

origin of, 58. 

times of, 49. 
Mimus polyglottos, 174. 
Mniotilta varia, 167. 
Mniotiltidse, 166. 
Mockingbird, 174. 
Molothrus ater, 137. 
Molt, the, 37. 

Momotus subrufescens, 25. 
Motmot, 25. 
Mud-hen, 94. 
Myiarchus crinitus, 123. 

Natural selection, 14, 15, 65. 

Nesting season, 64. 

Nest of birds, 65. 

Nighthawk, 6, 23, 118. 

Notornis, 22. 

Nuthatch, Eed-breasted, 180. 

White-breasted, 181. 
Nuthatches, 6, 8. 
Nycticorax nycticorax nsevius, 92. 

Opera-glass, 72. 
Opisthocomus cristatus, 17. 
Oriole, Baltimore, 131. 

Orchard, 37, 131, 132. 
Orioles, 42, 44, 55, 130. 
Ortolan, 135. 
Oscines, 122. 
Osprey, American, 107. 
Ostinops, 23. 

Ostrich, 5, 18, 19, 27, 29, 69, 70. 
Otocoris alpestris, 126. 
Oven-bird, 170. 
Owl, Barn, 8. 

Barred, 111. 

Great Horned, 110. 

Long-eared, 110. 

Screech, 41, 110. 



INDEX. 



193 



Owl, Short-eared, 109. 

Snowy, 44. 
Owls, 7," 8, 30, 65, 108. 
Ox-eye, 98. 

Paludicolse, 93. 

Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, 107. 

Paridse, 179. 

Parrots, 5, 20, 29, 31, 39, 40. 

Partridge, 19, 67, 100, 101. 

Parus atricapillus, 179. 

bicolor, 180. 
Passer domesticus, 141. 
Passerella iliaca, 144. 
Passeres, 121. 
Passerina cyanea, 152. 
Peabody-bird, 143. 
Peacock, 27. 
Penguins, 5, 18, 21. 
Peeps, 98. 

Permanent residents, denned, 53. 
Petrel, Leach's, 88. 

Wilson's, 88. 
Petrochelidon lunifrons, 159. 
Pewee, Wood, 63, 126. 
Phalarope, 27, 28, 70. 
Pheasant, 101. 
Philohela minor, 95. 
Phcebe, 124. 
Piei, 114. 
Picidas, 114. 
Pigeon, Carrier, 61. 

Wild, 102. 
Pigeons, 20. 

Pinicola enucleator, 148. 
Pintail, 89. 

Pipilo erythrophthalmus, 151. 
Piquebois jaune, 116. 
Piranga erythromelas, 156. 
Plectrophenax nivalis, 147. 
Plover, Black- breasted, 99. 

Golden, 99. 

Killdeer, 99. 

Piping, 99.. 

Wilson's, 99. 

King-necked, 99. 

Semipalmated, 99. 
Plovers, 41, 49, 98. 

27 



| Podilymbus podiceps, 84. 
! Podicipidse, 84. 

Poocaetes gramineus, 141. 
| Porzana Carolina, 94. 

Procellariidse, 88. 

Progne subis, 161. 

Protective coloration, 42. 
colors, 41. 

Ptarmigans, 44. 

Pygopodes, 84. 

Quail, 100. 

Quails, 18, 19, 27, 41, 67. 

Quiscalus quiscula, 133. 

Eail, Clapper, 94. 

King, 94. 

Little Black, 94. 

Yellow, 94. 

Virginia, 94. 
Bails, 18, 20, 22, 27, 93. 
Pallidas, 93. 
Ballus crepitans, 94. 
Baptores, 114. 
Becognition colors, 44. 
Bedpoll, 146. 
Eedstart, 169. 
Eeedbird, 134. 
Eegulus calendula, 182. 

satrapa, 181. 
Ehea, 19. 
Eicebird, 135. 
Eobin, 7, 12, 36, 49, 55, 63, 186. 

Golden, 131. 

Salmon, 58. 

Sandpiper, Semipalmated, 98. 

Spoonbill. 33. 

Spotted, 69, 96. 
Sauropsida, 1. 
Sayornis phcebe, 124. 
Scolopacidaa, 95. 
Scoters, 90. 
Seals, 58. 

Seiurus aurocapillus, 170. 
Setophaga rutlcilla, 169. 
Sexual characters, secondary, 45. 

selection, 46. 



194 



INDEX. 



Shelldrakes, 89. 
Shrike, Loggerhead, 162. 

Northern, 162. 
Sialia sialis, 186. 
Signaling colors, 44. 
Sitla canadensis, 181. 

carolinensis, 180. 
Snipe, Wilson's, 97. 
Snipes, 28, 36, 41, 43, 49, 67. 
Snowbird, Slate-colored, 145. 

White, 147. 
Snowflake, 38, 147. 
Songs of birds, 62. 
Sora, 94. 
Sparrow, Chipping, 142. 

English, 141. 

Field, 140. 

Fox, 144. 

House, 141. 5| 

Song, 40, 138 

Swamp, 139. 

Tree, 146. 

Vesper, 141. 

White-crowned, 144. 

White-throated, 143. 
Sparrows, 6, 18, 41, 43, 49, 67, 138. 
Spinus tristis, 148. 
Spiza americana, 155. 
Spizella pusilla, 140. 

monticola, 146. 

socialis, 142. 
Spoonbill, Roseate, 33. 
Squawk, 92. 
Stake Driver, 93. 
Sterna hirundo, 87. 
Sturnella magna, 136. 
Summer residents, defined, 53. 
Sylviidse, 181. 
Syrnium nebulosum, 111. 
Swallow, Bank, 157, 159. 

Barn, 157, 158, 159. 

Cliff, 157, 158, 159. 

Eave, 159. 

Kough-winged, 160. 

Tree, 157, 158, 160. 
Swallows, 6, 27, 55, 156. 
Swan, Trumpeter, 90. 

Whistling, 90. 



Swift, Chimney, 119. 
Swifts, 6, 15, 27, 55, 117. 

Tachycineta bicolor, 160. 
Tail, the, expression of emotion with 
26. 

relation between form of, and flight, 
25. 

sexual characters in, 25. 

uses of, 25. 
Tanager, Scarlet, 36, 37, 156. 
Tanagers, 42, 44, 155. 
Tanagridse, 155. 
Teal, Blue-winged, 89. 

Green-winged, 89. 
Telescope, 56, 57. 
Tern, Common, 87. 
Tetnionidse, 100. 
Thrasher, Brown, 175. 
Thrush, Brown, 175. 

Hermit, 185. 

Wilson's, 183. 

Wood, 12, 184. 
Thrushes, 6, 55, 67, 182. 
Thryothorus ludovicianus, 177. 
Titmouse, Tufted, 180. 
Towhee, 44, 151. 
Transient visitants, defined, 54. 
Trochilidse, 119. 
Trochilus colubris, 120. 
Troglodytes aedon, 175. 

hiemalis, 176. 
Troglodytidse, 173. 
Tubinares, 88. 
Turdidse, 182. 
Turdus aonolaschkse pallasii, 185. 

fuscescens, 183. 

mustelinus, 184. 
Turkey, 27. 
Tyrannidae, 121. 
Tyrannus tyrannus, 122. 

Urinator imber, 85. 
Urinatoridse, 85. 

Veery, 63, 183. 
Vireo flavifrons, 165. 
gilvus, 165. 



INDEX. 



195 



Vireo noveboracensis, 165. 

olivaceus, 164. 
Vireo, Red-eyed, 164. 

Warbling, 165. 

White-eyed, 165. 

Yellow-throated, 165. 
Vireos, 6, 55, 163. 
Vireonidas, 163. 
Vulture, Black, 103. 

Turkey, 103. 
Vultures, 8. 

Warbler, Black and White, 167. 

Black-throated Green, 168. 

Myrtle, 168. 

Yellow, 168. 
Warblers, 6, 42, 55, 166. 
Waxwing, Cedar, 161. 
Whip-poor-will, 6, 119. 
Widgeon, 89. 

Wing, the, as a musical instrument, 
23. 

as a weapon, 24. 

effects of use and disuse of, 18, 20 

expression of emotion with, 24. 

molt of feathers of, 21. 

sexual characters in, 23. 



Wing, uses of, 17. 
Winter residents, den tied, 53. 
Woodcock, 23, 32, 43, 95. 
Woodhewers, 15, 25, 32. 
Woodpecker, Downy, 16, 115. 

Hairy, 115. 

Pileated, 14. 

Red-headed, 116. 
Woodpeckers, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 16, 25, 30, 

64, 67, 69, 114. 
Wren, Carolina, 177. 

House, 175. 

Long-billed Marsh, 177. 

Winter, 176. 
Wrens, 55, 173. 
Wrybill, 33. 

Yellowbird, 148. 
Yellow-hammer, 116. 
Yellow-throat, Maryland, 171. 
Young birds, 70. 
Yucker, 116. 

Zamelodia ludoviciana, 150. 
Zenaidura macroura, 102. 
Zonotrichia albicollis, 143. 
Zonotriehia leucophrys, 144. 



THE END. 



LBFe '05 






LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 




005 481467 7 




